His Firecracker
by C.Queen
Summary: A Potions Master's attempt to steal Snape's intelligence from the man's portrait backfires, and Snape ends up in control of the man's body. And if that's not bad enough, he's stuck living and working with Lily L. Potter too. Let the fireworks begin.
1. When Lily Met Severus

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's just the way it's gotta be. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

My 125th fanfic…wow.

When Lily Met Severus

Twenty six year old Lily Luna Potter was pissed. Very pissed. So pissed that she was tempted to set things on fire, and on purpose for once too. But instead the Gryffindor was baking herself some chocolate chunk cookie, since she unfortunately couldn't go on a pyromaniac rampage. To Lily's way of thinking she could go on a calorie binge instead, which would upset her just as much after she calmed down, but wouldn't bring law enforcement to her door, wearily asking what she'd done this time.

If she weren't Harry Potter's daughter Lily was willing to bet they'd have stopped visiting her house a long time ago to make sure she was all right.

But she was his daughter so they came every time she caused something to accidentally explode or catch on fire, or at least they did when the incidents were reported to them. Her nearest neighbors, who thankfully lived far enough away that she'd never noticeably destroyed their property, were so used to seeing her property alit with signs of chaos that they hardly reacted anymore.

And it was her unfortunately habit of making things go boom that brought about the constant quitting of all of her former personal assistants. Which was why she was currently pissed off and looking forward to gaining a couple stones thanks to the cookies she was baking, Lily thought darkly, imaging the fun she'd have stuffing her latest deserter into the oven along with the cookies.

Good help was so bloody hard to find.

Maybe she should just do what every other mad scientist worth his or her salt did and make her own helper, Lily mused as she got up from the table to take her last batch of cookies from the oven. Then she would not only have an assistant made to her specifications, but he or she would have to call her Master which would be pretty sick.

But that was illegal and those assistants tended to die or do really horrible things she'd be obligated to feel guilty about. "Damn conscience." Lily muttered under her breath as she turned off the oven with an angry jerk.

Sighing over that and her current state of affairs, Lily's mood was starting to shift from anger to self pity. There was a big competition coming up for the country's Potion Masters and she'd really wanted to wow them all this year. Of course she'd won every year since she'd become a Potions Master, but this year she'd really wanted to go all out. Too many people still thought that she'd achieved the coveted title of Potions Master because of her father, because the organization wanted to suck up to him like everyone else tended to do. They'd said that given her young age and somewhat eccentric personality there was no way she could have won the title fair and square.

Needless to say there were a lot of people aside from her former assistants that were currently on her shit list.

She had a few things she could enter, things that would probably get some well deserved applause and appreciation. But not that would render them speechless and nearly catatonic, which was what she'd really been aiming for this year. Lily angrily kicked one of her cupboards in frustration at that thought.

Walking over to grab a container to put some of the cookies in Lily paused when she sensed a flux of magic in the air, taking her mind her now sore big toe. Turning around the girl watched as the stag, made of silvery mist, came to a stop in front of her and began speaking in her father's voice.

"Lily, I need you to come directly to my department immediately. Something's…come up and I need your help with it. If you're in the middle of an experiment finish it, then come please. We'll be waiting."

Huh. Well that was interesting. Looking down at herself and what she was wearing Lily quickly stripped off her apron, hung it on its peg, and apparated herself up to the second floor of her house and into her bedroom. Hastily discarding the at home, nobody else will see comfort clothes Lily quickly donned an outfit that to her was suited to going out to see what she could do to help her father out.

Adding accessories and her usual bangles to the mix Lily was pleased with the overall effect as she stared at herself in the full length mirror.

She was short, unfortunately, but the three inch stiletto heels on her black leather ankle boots took care of that so that she could look most men in the eye without craning her neck back. Her well worn jeans lovingly hugged her ass but flared out at the bottom since skinny jeans had never made an ounce of sense to her. Her tank top was a bright, bold gold that contrasted appealing with her hair, which was a short but vibrant, eye catching red. The large hoops in her ears and the upper arm bracelets wrapped around her upper arms completed the look to her way of thinking. She wasn't big on make up, so she just went the mascara and lip gloss deal.

The girl in the mirror would never be beautiful, but Lily thought herself attractive and unique. She wouldn't have minded losing a couple of pounds or toning down her boobs and butt, but as a whole she was comfortable with who she was.

One of the few good things about having Veela relatives, Lily thought as she apparated back down to the kitchen, where she quickly loaded some of her cookies into a container to take with her for her father and his men. When you had Veela cousins to compare yourself to from birth you realized quickly that unless you were willing to magically alter every one of your physical features every day of your life you would never be able to compete with them. So to try was just pointless.

She was who she was and anyone who didn't like it could kiss her round ass.

)

Harry knew his daughter had arrived by the sound of loud wolf whistles coming from the bullpen. It was hard on any father, the man thought in resignation, to know that he had a daughter who inspired that reaction in men who were by and large old enough to be her father too. But his baby, his angel, his precious little girl, was the sort that seemed to drive men nuts simply by being herself. It was like she subconsciously challenged them with her spiritedness because his daughter was a real firecracker.

It was of some small comfort to him that in general Lily sent all the interested men running screaming after less than a month of dealing with her…eccentricities.

And if that didn't do it her overprotective brothers stepped in to make sure the guy was worthy of their precious baby sister.

They never were.

"Daddy!" Running down the aisle with arms outstretched, a cloth bag hanging off one of them, Lily threw herself into her father's embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck. Cuddling close Lily smiled happily before drawing back to grin at him. "Hey. So what's up, Daddy-o?"

"Are those cookies I'm smelling?" Harry asked, distracted by the scent coming from her skin, assuming correctly that there would be cookies in the bag she was carrying that she'd recently baked.

"They are." Handing over the bag Lily smiled and let her father heard her into his office, taking her favored visitor seat which he sat behind his desk, helping himself to a cookie before giving her his attention.

"Lily, what do you know about a Potions Master named Justin Prince?"

The girl's brown eyes narrowed automatically. "Narcissistic, self centered, egotistical prick. He was in Ravenclaw when you were at Hogwarts, though he was a few years younger, right? And unlike me he really did get his title of Potions Master because of who his father is. Who his ancestors are to be more specific. Nobody knows what the prat actually looks like because the prick takes polyjuice potion like it's his daily dose of vitamins. He carries a flask around with him and he's always drinking the stuff. He looks like a buff surfer in his late twenties, all tanned and blonde, but I bet he's butt ugly in real life. Pinched my butt once so I bent his fingers back and told him the next time he tried that I'd cut them off and shove them into all his orifices."

Harry's lips twitched, even as his eyes shone with pride over his girl. Then they darkened, hardened, and went Auror serious. "That's the one. As it turns out he was the one who stole the portrait of Snape from Hogwarts two months ago. He's been trying, apparently, to transfer the…well whatever it is in the portraits that make them somewhat sentient, into himself, in the hopes of making himself a better Potions Master."

"He was trying to steal Snape's intelligence through his portrait?" Lily couldn't have said she was surprised. "Figures. He's the take the easy way out sort. So why were you called in about this? I mean obviously he broke the law, but it's not like he killed anyone."

"Actually he did. He killed his gardener when his potions lab exploded during his latest experiment. To make a long story short Prince was taken to St. Mungos and when he woke up he asked for me specifically. Because, according to the man even now sitting in one of our interview rooms, he is Severus Snape, not Justin Prince. What's more, having talked to the man, I can't argue with that. Because he might not look like Snape, but he sure as hell sounds and talks to me like him. He knows things only Snape could know. I believe him."

Sitting back in her chair Lily considered the possibilities. "So what do you need me for?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me if it's possible, what he claimed happened."

Lily shrugged, honestly having never considered the possibility. Why would she? She wasn't even a hundred percent sure how they made the portraits to be special the way they were. "I don't see why it couldn't be possible. You more than anyone knows that objects and people can be possessed by the consciousness of others, Daddy. A damn stupid thing to do in my opinion, but I would guess it's possible. Could I talk to him? If he's been trying for over two months then the portrait…Snape should know something about what Prince did."

"I thought you'd say that. Let's go."

Getting up Harry brought the container of cookies with them as they headed out, setting it on the break table for his men to devour in his absence. Ignoring the cheers and stampeding of feet the two headed through the maze of offices until they came to a stop in front of one being guarded by two seasoned Aurors. Nodding at the two men Harry and Lily waited until the men opened the door before walking through to face off against the man calmly sitting at the table within.

Lily took one look at the man and gasped. "Holy cow! He looks like a middle aged Alan Rickman with too long black hair! That's what Prince actually looks like? Why the hell would he want to look like a pretty boy when he could look like this? The man is even stupider than I thought. And how is that even possible?"

Blinking, Harry stared at the man with new eyes. "I knew he reminded me of someone, but I couldn't put my finger on it."

"Do I want to even know who that is?" The man drawled out in a voice Lily recognized as Prince's, though the tone and look in the man's eyes were more man than Prince could have ever hope to have or be.

Walking over to take the seat across from the man Lily propped her head up on her hands and watched him with fascination. "He's a Muggle actor. One of my Aunt Hermione's favorites. Are you really Severus Snape? Inside I mean."

"Unfortunately."

Wanting to do some testing of her own Lily locked eyes with the harshly handsome man across from her. Looking at him certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, especially for a girl who had always liked older men. It was probably a good thing that Prince had always disguised his real looks, Lily thought as she formulated her first question. If he'd always looked like this she might have made a mistake of going out with the prat a couple of times before she'd wised up.

"What was the first thing you said to me the day we met in the Headmaster's office?" Lily asked, figuring that that was a question Prince couldn't possibly know the answer to.

The man who was Snape in mind didn't have to think about it. "I said that naming you after Lily was the worst insult your father could ever have paid her."

"You said that?" Glaring at the other man Harry could feel the urge to give the man hell well up inside of him. It was one of the reasons he was so sure the man actually was being possessed by Snape's consciousness, the Gryffindor thought with dark humor. Only Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape elicited this kind of hotheaded reaction from him so easily.

Lily's just waved her father off, not being insulted in the least. She knew that the man before her had put her grandmother up on a pedestal that no woman, including Lily Evans Potter, could ever hope to live up to. She and Snape had argued plenty in the Headmaster's office while she'd attended Hogwarts, and she'd heard how he regarded her grandmother in his voice. So she got the fact that she could never be good enough in his eyes.

"He did indeed." She told her father dryly so that he'd know Snape had gotten the answer right. Then she asked the man her next question. Or started to. "What is your secret ingredient for-."

"Young lady, you hounded me for over four years trying to get me to tell you the secret ingredient for my Gemini Potion. I'm not telling you."

Looking over Lily met her father's gaze and nodded her head. "Yup. It's him all right. I'd know that snotty tone of voice anywhere."

"And every time you open your mouth you advertise that you're a Potter and a Weasley."

"Wow. And here I thought you'd NEVER have a nice thing to say to me, Snape." Lily grinned at the man, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly. "Thank you. I don't think you're all bad either."

Turning his head the man gave Harry a dark look, trying to pretend that the obnoxious girl was no longer in the room with them. "Couldn't you simply end my life now? Given our past relationship the idea has to appeal to you, and technically it wouldn't be murder as I'm already dead. It would resolve this mess for everyone."

"But Prince isn't dead. We need to figure out how to get you back in your portrait and out of him so that he can be charged for his actions." Harry reminded the man sternly. "And if I hated you that much I wouldn't have named my second son after you." He pointed out.

"The second son that looks so much like you and his grandfather." Was Snape's less than thrilled response. "Yes, thank you so much for that."

"Stupid dumbass." Lily muttered, grinning when both men looked at her. "I didn't mean either of you, though that phrase has probably fit you both a time or two in the past. I meant Prince. He's the serious dumbass. I mean how did he think he was going to be able to control you, Snape? Did he really think you'd just give him access to all your knowledge for the hell of it? Please. You're more secretive about your personal potions than I am. And it's not like you were close to your mother's side of the family from what I've heard. The family card wouldn't have worked on you. Besides, you're the type that expects people to succeed on their own merit. You'd never let someone take credit for your work."

Harry's lips twitched in amusement at his daughter's little rant. "What I can't figure is, how is it Snape is in control of Prince's body, given how little of his personality must have been in the portrait to begin with. It just makes no sense."

Lily snorted, giving her father a disbelieving look. "You aren't serious. That part is obvious."

Snape gave the annoying woman a disdainfully superior look, not about to believe for a moment that she would be able to answer the question so easily. Since he couldn't figure out how he'd come to be in control of Prince's body there was no way she could have.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why is Snape in control, Lily?"

"Well, duh. This is Severus Snape we're talking about. Former badass Death Eater and double secret agent spy. The man who lied multiple times to Voldie, to the snakey bastard's face I might add. Prince is a self centered, image obsessed, cry over a splinter weakling." Lily rolled her eyes expressively. "You don't have to lay them out to know whose is bigger. Seriously bigger in this case. Even a small piece of Snape's being would bitch slap Prince's whole being into submission. It goes without saying."

Harry winced. "Thank you so much for that mental imagery, sweetie."

Snape glared at the girl before turning his penetrating gaze back to Harry. "I'd like to go back to being dead now, Potter."

"Can't say I blame you."


	2. Our House

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters are in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

HAPPY EASTER!

Our House

After Lily's little verbal bombshell the two men in the room got busy discussing the situation and what could be done to undo it. Unfortunately Snape had no idea how Prince had done what he'd done and had no knowledge about the process that had allowed him some sentience within his Headmaster portrait. And given the time the people who might know something were at home, possibly already in bed. Which meant, unfortunately, that nothing could be done until the next day at the earliest, leaving the two with one important question to answer.

Just what were they supposed to do with Snape until everything was sorted out and fixed?

Prince's house had been heavily damaged in the explosion since the man's potion lab had been built under his house, and Snape hadn't committed a crime and therefore locking him up wasn't a fair option. The budget was stretched to a limit, and putting the man up, especially without a definite deadline, could get seriously costly. Plus he would need to be supervised, just in case Prince managed to regain control of his body somehow.

Harry was very uneasily entertaining the notion that he might actually have to take his former Potions teacher home with him when Lily excitedly piped up.

"Oh. OH! Give him to me, give him to me!" Lily lifted her hand in the air, waving it frantically like her Aunt Hermione had tended to do in class. "I want him. Oh please, Daddy. Can I have him, please?"

Both Harry and Snape gave the girl a look that suggested they thought they were both due for a brain aneurysm real soon.

Hurrying over to her father Lily latched onto his arm and gave him the big, gooey eyes that had been getting her her way for over twenty years. "Oh please, Daddy. Please let me have him. I lost another assistant today, and I really need the help. You wouldn't want me to blow myself up because I have to work overtime to compensate, right? I'll pay for everything and he can use my potions lab to figure out how to fix himself on his own time. I have room at the house and I promise to feed him and bathe him and walk him three times a day without being told. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee."

While Snape choked on the idea of her treating him like a dog, Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

His daughter had a way with words and imagery. He'd give her that.

"You know it's the best way. You won't have to worry about him getting into trouble because I'll keep him busy and this won't cost your department anything because what I would pay him for his help will just go towards his room and board." Lily argued, seeing that her father was at least considering the idea. "And you're always worried that something bad will happen to me because I'm out in the middle of nowhere. Well at least while he's here I'd have a competent live in bodyguard who could crush every one of my exes like a bug."

"You're assuming I wouldn't hand you over to them on a silver platter." Snape drawled out, his dislike of her plain.

Lily shot him a superior look. "You might be an ass but you're a somewhat honorable one. I might not have my grandmother's eyes but I'm still her granddaughter. For that reason alone you'd do your best to keep me in one piece."

Angry that he couldn't argue with that Snape turned his attention to Harry. "I'm fine with being locked up here." He wasn't, but the alternative was worse to his way of thinking.

A mutinous look came over Lily's face; she was used to getting what she wanted. The girl's brown eyes darkened and both Snape and Harry had lived long enough to know when a woman was plotting against them in a big way. Both had to fight the urge to shudder when a slow, cat that got the canary grin crossed her face. That could not be good.

"I'll be right back." She informed the men and then without waiting for their permission headed out of the room at top speed.

)

Snape watched the door slam and then turned his gaze to the only other occupant in the room, the younger man looking as uneasy as he felt. Though he had a feeling he was even more worried, given that he'd gotten the distinct impression that Lily Potter was a Daddy's girl. Which meant that unfortunately there was a very real possibility that the bastard would hand him over to his daughter without much opposition. Potter might do it just to piss him off too, Snape mentally added as he watched those green eyes watch him just as closely.

Lily's eyes, Snape thought with a pang in his chest that had never dulled with time. Ironic really, that it was those eyes that had made him want to lash out at the boy every time they'd crossed paths, while at the same time it was that one resemblance to Lily's that had had him protecting the Gryffindor whenever possible.

"She has a big house. And her potions lab is the envy of everyone according to her." Harry said slowly, obviously knowing to watch his step as he mused aloud. "And I don't think you want to stay here in lockup. I wouldn't recommend it. If nothing else the food is terrible."

The idea of being trapped in a cell turned Snape's stomach and shook him in ways he would never admit, but the idea of being trapped in a house with Harry Potter's daughter didn't strike him as being much better. That girl just rubbed him raw somehow, in a way he couldn't put into words. She stirred him and everyone else up with her presence. It was one of her numerous flaws.

"Do you think you can't reverse whatever he did?"

Sneering at the younger man Snape's eyes conveyed deep loathing. "As your spoiled daughter pointed out, even a bit of my being is stronger and smarter than Prince could have ever hoped to be. Of course I can figure out what he did and reverse it."

"Then wouldn't Lily's suggestion be the best one?" Harry pointed out reasonable. "Look, you and I, we'll never like each other. Our dislike is too ingrained and well cemented for it to be otherwise. Even knowing we were on the same side and that what you did in the past…you paid for…." Harry trailed off for a moment before picking up his train of thought once more. "Lily's idea is logical, and it would be much appreciated if you did stay with her while you're here. When she's by herself the chances of her blowing herself up increase to a degree I have nightmares thinking about. That's why we insist that she has assistants. And this is her busiest time of the year. And frankly it's her house or mine at this point because I'm not locking you up like a criminal and you have to be supervised."

While Snape mulled that over the two waited in silence for Lily's return, which didn't take long.

Coming back into the room in a blur of motion Lily walked right up to Snape an jammed one of the cookies she'd set aside for her dad to take home with him into the Slytherin's mouth.

"There's more where that came from. I'll cook you anything you want while you're at my place too." She added smugly, confident in the fact that the time honored theory would apply in this case. The way to a man's heart was through his stomach and the guy hadn't eaten in over thirty years. Unless they ate in heaven, but why would they? Where would the digested food go?

Unable not to swallow what he'd instinctively chewed Snape pulled the rest of the cookie out of his mouth, glaring at her darkly as he tried to ignore the fact that the woman could bake one hell of a good cookie. Chocolate chip had always been his favorite too, which wasn't helping.

He didn't want to go with her, but he wanted to go home with her father even less. Seeing Lily's eyes everyday in James Potter's face would be…the torture it had always been. And the sooner he figured out how to reverse his situation the sooner he could fix it and leave this cursed plane of existence. He would no doubt need a lab and access to potion materials for that. The girl would have everything he would need or could get it through her suppliers. She was a Potions Master, which allowed her to cut through a lot of the red tape concerning a number of controlled substances and materials.

So with a deep, dark scowl, Snape gave in.

"Fine, I'll go with her. I hope she blows the both of us up though."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Lily assured him with a wide, triumphant grin.

)

Lily Potter's house was indeed in the middle of nowhere. The three storey house was old and a little shabby around the edges, but it was, she informed Snape proudly, completely fire proof. She'd seen to that since she considered her potions lab a lot easier to replace than her house. Plus, as she'd promised her various loved ones, she didn't experiment inside said house anymore. The inside of the house was a little on the worn side as well, but warm and brightly colored like its mistress. It was late when they arrived, so Lily informed him she'd wait and give him the full tour in the morning. Instead she took him up to the second floor and showed him to the guestroom he'd be staying in after pointing out the washroom and the door that led to the third floor.

"If you here noise coming from up there don't worry, it's just Hugo."

Snape glanced at the door briefly. "Your cousin lives with you?" He'd never met Hugo Weasley personally, but the boy was said to be the exception to a number of Weasley rules. For one thing the boy was rumored to be very intelligent, possible almost on par with Dumbledore some whispered. The boy also didn't get into trouble, and had never been called to the Headmaster's office to Snape's knowledge. Everything he knew about the boy was second hand, but the ghosts and other portraits had always spoken of the youngest Weasley with affection.

"Mostly just on weekends. He tends to lose track of time at work and unless someone goes to get him he tends to fall asleep there. Hugo is…brilliant, but he'd lose his own head if it weren't attached to his neck."

"I see."

"You go ahead and check out your room, I'm gonna go raid his dressers to find you something you can wear comfortably to bed. We'll have to get you new clothes in the morning since I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be caught dead wearing Prince's normal attire. Of course you are dead, but you get what I mean."

Walking into the room while she headed to the top floor Snape surveyed the room without much interest. He'd slept in much worse places, though he doubted he'd get much sleep while he was here. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept easily when he'd been alive. Not even when he was a child, the sounds of his parents screaming at each other his only lullaby. And since he'd never known when his father might to shift the object of his fury…well it had always been in his best interests to sleep lightly.

Shaking off the thought with practiced ease Snape took a seat on the side of the bed, waiting for her to come back with whatever she intended to liberate from the Weasley boy's room.

He didn't have to wait long, she was soon back with a pair of black pajama bottoms, some clothes for the next day, and what looked like several magazines under one arm.

"These should fit, you two are pretty close hip wise, though his legs are longer. He actually came home for once but he put himself into a sugar coma from the looks of it. He found the cookies I baked earlier and helped himself to plenty before he lost consciousness. I'm not worried though, so you shouldn't be on the off chance that you are. He just forgets to eat too so when he does eat he eats a LOT. Anyways, you'll meet him tomorrow and see for yourself. He'll be half awake for the first hour, so don't worry about startling him or him attacking you because he doesn't know who you are. Fluffy animals are more dangerous than him, especially when he'd tired."

"I'll keep that in mind." Snape took the offered pajamas and then the magazines, his eyebrows rising slightly when he saw that they were all potions magazines. Apparently she was a subscriber.

Putting the rest of the clothes onto the nearby dresser Lily hoped they were plain and boring enough for him before turning around to face him, seeing his surprise over the magazines."You aren't a people person and you don't like me very much right now." Lily stated matter of fact as she looked the room over to make sure everything was in place before she turned her eyes back to him. "So I figured I'd head to bed myself and leave you alone to brood or whatever you anti heroes do when you have some downtime. I didn't know if you were a night owl or not so I brought the magazines for you to read in case you intend to stay up a while. Is there anything else you need?"

Snape shook his head, having no intention of thanking her for the pajamas or the magazines.

"Okay. Good night then. I'm across the hall if you need me."

Watching her go Snape waited until he heard her door close before he got undressed to change into the pajama bottoms she'd brought for him. They were a little tight around the waist, and definitely too long, but they would do. Pulling back the covers Snape slid in and propped himself up against the headboard, having no real interest in even trying to sleep. Doze maybe, but his mind was too busy and his surroundings too foreign. So he flipped through the magazines she'd brought him and settled in to see what he'd missed out on in the world of potions.

)

The next morning Snape awoke from his light slumber to the scent of food and coffee being made. Breathing in the smells Snape pushed aside the covers, taking a moment or two to orient himself as he remembered how he'd come to be in the cozy bed under the handmade quilt. He had the worst luck ever, the Slytherin thought as he got to his feet, heading out of the room to the washroom. And his luck always seemed to take a turn for the worst when a Potter was involved, which made him think that he had more reasons to be sour than even he knew.

After taking care of business and showering Snape changed into the clothes she'd laid out for him and then headed into the hallway. Sensing eyes on his back Snape turned around to watch the younger man shuffle towards him.

The tall, skinny boy was the same age as Lily, but he had one of those faces that made him look younger than he was. The fact that the boy was wearing boxers covered in yellow smiley faces didn't help either. Hugo Weasley's reddish brown curls were well tousled and stuck up all over the place, his blue eyes slightly dazed and confused as the boy walked up to stand in front of him.

"Alan Rickman…what are you doing here?"

This resemblance he had to a Muggle actor was going to get annoying real soon. "I'm not Alan Rickman. I'm…your cousin's temporary assistant."

"Oh, she scared off another one. That explains the cookies." Blinking like a spooked owl the boy looked him over with sleepy interest before holding out a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hugo Weasley. You are?"

Snape gave serious thought to refusing the hand, but he figured he could be civil for the time being. His present situation would be more bearable that way. So he took the hand and gave it a brief shake before letting go. "Severus Snape."

"Really? My parents had a potions teacher named that. Any relation?"

"You could say that."

"I see." There was a hint of growing awareness in the younger man's eyes now, but he was still half asleep and wasn't thinking of the wild possibilities. And the mention of his parents had made the Ravenclaw think of something else he needed to ask. "Have my parents met you yet?"

"Not in a long while. Why?"

"My mum's always had a thing for Alan Rickman, and my dad's been pretty depressed lately about how fast he's starting to lose his hair like Granddad. Me introducing mum to you would probably not go over well with him."

Snape's lips curved into a sneer at the thought. As if he'd ever have any interest in Granger. He'd sooner be shackled to Lily Potter for life. Probably. He hadn't spent enough time around the redhead to know if she was as annoying to be around as her aunt.

"I'm not the least interested in your mother."

"That's good." And smiling friendly Hugo motioned for the other man to follow him. "We should head downstairs, smells like breakfast is ready."

Watching the younger man head for the stairs Snape stayed in place for a moment, a single eyebrow rising when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone stumbling on the stairs, followed by the thunks of someone hitting those stairs as they rapidly fell down them.

CRASH.

And moments after,

"I'm okay."

Looking up at the ceiling as if to ask for strength Snape shook his head at the situation and then headed to the landing to walk down the stairs the right way.

It was going to be a long day.


	3. Fairly Odd Couple

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Fairly Odd Couple

Since he didn't want to talk to or be around Lily Potter Snape decided to concentrate on Hugo Weasley instead. For the first half of their breakfast the boy did nothing but eat whatever Lily put in front of him, the girl babying the boy to an extent that was mindboggling in his eyes. She even called him Baby at one point. When Lily caught him gapping over this she'd informed him that in their family Hugo was often called Baby because he was the youngest in their family excluding the children their siblings and cousins had had since. Apparently the younger man didn't think being referred to as an infant was a bad thing.

Snape would have come to the conclusion that everyone was wrong and Hugo was incredibly simple if not for the boy's reaction when, after being exposed to enough caffeine, Lily informed her cousin as to how their guest had come to be her assistant and who he really was.

Like a switch had been flipped Snape watched as the dreamy, unfocused eyes went intelligent and focused, zooming in on him with startling intensity. The boy's eyes rather reminded Snape of Dumbledore's eyes then, a comparison that immediately had the Slytherin rethinking his assessment of the other man's mental acuity. Oh but there was intelligence and brilliance there, Snape silently marveled, it was simply a matter of engaging the boy's interest.

Hugo had a great many questions about life after death and was eager to ask them, leaning forward in his seat as the boy forgot the food he'd been obsessed with consuming earlier. Of course Snape had never been a conversationalist and hoping to shut the boy up informed Hugo that he couldn't tell the boy anything about death because he'd only lived his living life and the one inside the portrait. He had no memory of the time in between.

"Oh. Fascinating." Not looking the least disappointed Hugo switched to other questions, like what it was like to live in a portrait, who did he find to be the most interesting to talk to, did it feel weird to go from portrait to portrait, and did he like living in one?

Snape tried not to answer, he really, really did. But after a few harsh, one word answers the former badass Slytherin couldn't keep it up and found himself giving in as he answered each of the boy's questions to the best of his knowledge.

And he did that because Snape discovered the secret weapon the boy possessed that had likely kept the youngest Weasley alive for the past twenty six years.

Hugo Weasley might look human, but in all actuality he was a puppy. And not just any puppy, but a cocker spaniel puppy with curly, floppy ears, and big, innocence filled eyes. And being mean or hurting the boy's feelings made a person feel like they'd just kick said puppy onto a highway during rush hour.

He just wasn't that evil.

Wisely not commenting as she watched Hugo work his magic Lily did her best not to smile as she turned her attention to her cereal. It was always amazing really, to see the way her cousin wrapped people around his little finger without even realizing it. And he didn't, this was really just how Hugo was. People fascinated her cousin and he really was one of those people who believed a stranger was just a friend he hadn't met yet. If you put her cousin on a train for an hour he would be able to tell you something unique about every person in his compartment by the time they reached their stop. Provided he was caffeinated and not sleep deprived, Lily silently corrected as she got up to top of both men's glasses for them.

She doubted Snape was used to talking so much at once and his throat would get dry, Lily thought as she allowed herself one slightly evil little smile.

"So you guys are going to find out how portraits are made today?" Hugo asked, interrupting Lily's thoughts with his eager tone of voice. "Could I come with you? I've always wanted to know how they do that, but there aren't any books on the subject. Wait…do I work today, Lily?"

Lily's lips twitched. "Given how much overtime you've been working I would imagine your department would be fine with you taking the day off."

"What exactly is it you do?" Snape asked, feeling a little dazed as he realized that he'd actually been having a conversation with a Weasley without being remotely snarky or sarcastic. He felt a little sick.

Hugo beamed at the other man, thrilled to be asked about himself. "I translate books from other countries into multiple languages so that everyone can enjoy them."

Books. He should have known. Definitely Granger's son, Snape mused as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Then it's settled, we'll all go." Lily toasted the men with her cup, pleased that her cousin would be coming with them. While she was relatively intelligent about stuff that didn't have to do with potions, Lily was pretty sure some of the information would be hard to follow. Hugo was really good at explaining things for her. "We'll go after I give you guys some haircuts. Yours needs a trim, Hugo, and you so can't pull off the shoulder length hair, Snape. It must be cut before I will be seen in public with you."

Snape gave her a dark look. "I don't do short hair."

"Don't worry, I have plans."

Shivers ran down the older man's spine at her smile.

)

After breakfast Lily made it clear that neither man was allowed out of the house until she was done with them, though Hugo assented to his haircut without complaint. It was obvious he was used to her bossing him around but didn't mind because he knew she was only doing it because she knew that he didn't function well without someone to keep him fed, clothed and physically functioning. Well that and if she didn't cut his hair his mother would, and Lily was better at it.

Snape solved his problem by cutting his own hair while she was trimming Hugo's, coming back downstairs with a look in his eye that told her she had about as much chance of getting him on the stool as she did convincing Hugo that the world was flat.

More amused than upset by his little rebellion, Lily took in the chin length hair with approval. It suited him.

Annoyed that she liked it Snape would have shaved it all off, but he hated the idea of not having any hair more.

While Hugo headed upstairs to dress Snape took advantage of the boy's absence to ask the question that had been buzzing around in his mind. "Has he always been like this?"

Lily didn't have to ask what he meant. "Pretty much. We don't know how he ended up being so…well…trusting and innocent…but the popular belief is that he thought too hard about something, blew his brain circuits, and when they reconnected some of those circuits weren't reattached. Like the ones that would make him realize that not everyone is as sweet and well intentioned as he is."

"But you all can't have sheltered him from the outside world completely." Snape persisted. "And both your fathers would be out of jobs if there wasn't still evil in the world."

"Oh he knows." Lily informed him. "But Hugo…he doesn't feel the same way about people that do bad things. He feels sorry for them. In his eyes the darkness inside them is destroying their lives. If he sees someone else being abused he'll intervene, but when it's himself he's usually a complete pacifist." And now Lily's eyes narrowed threateningly as she moved in to glare up at the Slytherin. "And I don't think you would, but just so we're clear, if ANYTHING happens to him while you're here and it's your fault, I will make you pay. I don't know how, since killing you is what you want, but I'd find a way to make you sorrier than you've ever been."

Snape's eyes were emotionless as they met hers. "You couldn't."

Looking into his eyes Lily believed him. "Then it's a damn good thing I don't think you'll do anything to hurt him while you're here."

"You're so sure of that?"

"There's only one Slytherin that's managed it yet." Was her amused response.

)

Once Hugo was dressed the three headed for Diagon Alley using the Floo network. It felt very strange to Snape to walk the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley once more. It felt even stranger to walk down them and not feel disapproving, hating and despising eyes on him. But of course they didn't know who he really was. And he was with a Potter and a Weasley, which probably made him a good person by association in the eyes of their watchers. Lily and Hugo obviously knew a lot of the people around them, the two waving greetings or calling them out, stopping to chat for a couple moments before explaining they were in a hurry and couldn't stay longer.

Remaining in the background during these exchanges Snape waited until they were on the move again before asking Lily a question. "How are you planning to introduce me to people? Assuming I'm going to be here for a time." He was a pessimist by nature, so he wasn't anticipating it being easy to fix his portrait problem.

"That's a good question." Hugo noted, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "If word gets out who he is there would be a lot of people that would want to do very un nice things to him. There are a lot of people who believe you brainwashed Uncle Harry into thinking you weren't actually as evil as you pretended to be." Hugo added, patting the older man's shoulder in sympathy.

Shoulder jerking at the unfamiliar gesture Snape schooled his features so the other two couldn't see how the simple gesture had thrown him.

"I could care less how people remember me."

Lily rolled her eyes expressively at his surely, macho guy response. It was so something Scorpius Malfoy or Andromeda Tonks would say. Must be a Slytherin thing, she decided with a smirk. "Mr. Tough Guy. And we'll just introduce him as…Severus Prince. We'll all be able to remember it and it's not a complete lie. How's that sound to you, Half Blooded Prince?"

The dark look Snape aimed in her direction indicated he'd very much like to take her words and shove them down her throat.

Sensing the negative vibes Hugo tugged on the Slytherin's sleeve until the man turned to look at him. "Can I call you Severus? Or do you prefer to go by a shorter form like Sev?"

Staring up into the boy's eager and hopeful blue eyes Snape could feel a twitch threatening to erupt under his right eye. Illegal, Snape thought as he all but choked on his words his mind refused to let him speak. It should be illegal for anyone over the age of four to have puppy dog eyes like the man in front of him was sporting. And what was worse was the fact that he was fairly certain the Weasley didn't even know he was doing it. The boy just wanted to make friends with him that badly.

"You can call me Severus." He finally ground out, immediately turning to glare at Lily. "But you can't."

"Meanie." Lily fake pouted and then grinned at him. "But since you insist, I'll call you Sev."

"You know that's not what I meant, Potter."

"Should have been more specific then, Sev."

)

Watching the two tease and bicker with each other all the way to the Ministry building that housed the portrait makers' studios, Hugo thought about telling them that they fought like an old married couple. His self preservation instincts said that probably wasn't a good idea, especially since he and Severus weren't friends yet. Though it was obvious the man had just been pretending to be as horrible as his parents had always described the former Potions teacher to be. The man was a little prickly, but he was just one of those people who had a hard time interacting with others.

Hugo was sure in his gut that Severus was a very nice person once you got to know him.

"I think they'll kick us out if you keep talking like that, Sev." Lily informed the older man sweetly as she moved to enter the door that Hugo was holding open for her. "So you might want to tone it down until we get some info."

"You're one to talk, You Harpy." Was Snape's dark response as he followed her into the building with a look in his eye that suggested he'd have slammed the door into her if Hugo hadn't still been holding it open for him.

Shrugging off his dark mood easily Lily turned her attention to Hugo. "I'll go to the main desk and let them know we're here. Dad said he'd send them a message explaining that we were here on official business and to cooperate. Hugo, you stay and keep Mr. Grumpy company unless I signal that I need your help."

Snape watched her go, itching to make strangling motions with his hands. But he was far too mature to stoop to her level, the Slytherin told himself sternly, following Hugo to stand off to the side so that they'd be out of the way of anyone coming into the building. To distract himself from his need to do the world one last service and ensure Lily Potter demise, Snape turned his attention to the young man at his side. "How does she think you would help?"

"The woman at the front desk is old enough to be my grandmother. Women that age love to pinch my cheeks, tousle my curls, and feed me. They find me extremely adorable for reasons I've never quite been able to decipher. All women do really. They treat me like a favorite grandson, son or little brother."

Shaking his head a little Snape didn't doubt it for a moment. "I can see how you would be useful then."

Hugo nodded. "It does make my life easier except when it comes to dating. Even the guys seem unable to think of me as more than a friend or brother."

Snape raised one, expressive eyebrow. "You're gay?"

"When you're as bad at dating as I am you don't cut your dating pool in half." Hugo answered with a rueful look. "And when you love someone you're suppose to love them for who they are on the inside, not the outside, right? I don't see why I should discount someone as a possible soul mate simply because their gender is the same or different from mine."

"I see."

Hugo shrugged in a 'what can you do' manner, his smile saying he'd accepted that his way of thinking was often considered weird by some.

Rejoining the two Lily crossed her arms in front of her, her face resigned. "I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you two want to hear first?"

Snape didn't have to think about it. "Bad news."

"It's usually best to get the bad out of the way so that you can appreciate the good." Hugo added, always the type to find the silver lining.

Lily's lips twitched. Hugo could be so Zen sometimes. "Well it's bad for us, not for you, Sev. Actually, you'll probably get along with the man coming to escort us upstairs. Hugo…they're sending down Dolohov. Apparently he works here."

While Hugo winced at his cousin's announcement Snape gave Lily a questioning look. "Dolohov? A descendant of Antonin Dolohov?"

"Yup. Alexei Dolohov is a direct descendant and as Slytherin as you. He's also that Slytherin I mentioned to you earlier."

"He hates me." Hugo informed Snape with a sad, kicked puppy look that made it plain that he was hurt that the man disliked him so much.

"He doesn't hate you, Baby." Reaching up Lily's stroked her cousin's curls reassuringly. "He just finds being around you very upsetting." Turning her head Lily gave Snape a rueful look. "Most of the school bullies figured out early on to just avoid Hugo and pick on the rest of us instead. But Dolohov…well he's one stubborn son of a bitch. Hugo's a Weasley and not a Slytherin, so Dolohov felt honor bound to be mean to him when we were at school together. And people who pick on Hugo always end up feeling worse than he does so…it's become a vicious little cycle. Dolohov can't help but be nasty to Hugo, even knowing that he'll feel guilty as hell about it afterwards."

"I told him I didn't mind him picking on me but that just made him madder."

So this Dolohov was eviler than he was, Snape mused. Maybe he'd get lucky and when the kid found out who he really was the other Slytherin would kill him for betraying the Death Eaters decades ago. Antonin definitely would have if given the chance. Maybe the man's great grandson would be a chip off the old block. It didn't seem like that would be too much to ask for.

Already starting to feel bad Hugo gave his cousin a hopeful look. "What's the good news?"

"He's apparently been ordered to be nice." Lily shared a look of understanding with her cousin. "Yeah, his definition of nice and ours are vastly different. But we can hope, right?"

"Couldn't hurt, I suppose."

"Optimists." Was all Snape said as he shook his head over their naiveté.


	4. Picture This

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Picture This

When the descendant of his former colleague came into the room Snape recognized him right away. It wasn't that the boy resembled Antonin particularly, but the youth had the same sort of aura that his great grandfather had had. That deceptively bored air that made a person think that he wasn't paying them or his surroundings the least bit of attention. When in fact he was aware of everything and everyone, weighing the situation and his options with every step he took. That and a predator recognized a predator, Snape thought as his eyes met the other man's across the room.

Inwardly wondering why a Slytherin was standing with a Potter and a Weasley Alexei Dolohov hid his interest as he walked over to them, in no hurry to reach his destination. He'd rather have his teeth ripped out one after another than play nice with either Gryffindor. Especially Weasley, the Slytherin thought darkly, his gorges automatically rising at the mere thought of his former schoolmate. Looking at the bookworm was out of the question if he was going to complete his assigned duty with the politeness he'd been ordered to display.

"Dolohov." Lily drawled out when he stopped in front of them, not surprised that the man was pretending Hugo wasn't even present.

"Potter." Was the young Slytherin's curt response, staring over her shoulder rather than look at her. "Weasley. And you are, Mr…?"

"Snape. Severus Snape."

All three of them watched as the shock and surprise came into Dolohov's dark eyes, though the man hid his thoughts as quickly as they flashed.

Alexei was aware that the Severus Snape his great grandfather had known had had a Muggle father. Snape was not a wizarding family name to his knowledge. And there was something in the man's eyes, an anticipation of something? The man definitely wanted something from him, the Slytherin could feel it in his bones. But if the man was friends with the Gryffindors he could forget favors from him.

"Mr. Snape. If you three will follow me I'll take you upstairs." Alexei motioned for them to head in the direction of the stairs he'd recently exited from, still deliberately not even looking in Hugo's direction. He wouldn't have even greeted the Gryffindor if he hadn't been ordered to.

When the older man fell into step beside him Alexei looked over him questioningly. "I understand why Weasley is here but might I enquire as to the purpose of your visit, Mr. Snape?"

Snape gave his fellow Slytherin a curious look. "Why do you think Hugo is here?"

"The art of portrait making is not something he can read about in his beloved books. I'd imagine he found out you two were coming and asked to tag along since knowledge is like a drug to him. He's an information junkie." It was Alexei's dear hope that one day the other man would reach his mental limit, causing the Gryffindor's head to explode like a dropped melon.

"I see. And you are correct. As for Potter and I…well I'm stuck with her until we figure out how to undo a portrait accident I was unfortunate enough to be involved in."

"A portrait accident." Alexei repeated, his intelligent eyes narrowing slightly. "Severus Snape's portrait disappeared from Hogwarts a couple months ago. The authorities visited here to ask about possible uses for it. And today I read in the paper that yesterday a Potions Master caused a large explosion on his property that killed his gardener. A Potions Master whose last name was Prince. Prince was the maiden name of Severus Snape's mother if I recall correctly."

"Very good. And I'd like to return to my portrait as soon as possible." Snape informed the man, quickly summarizing his situation and how he'd come to be in his present company.

While the Slytherin digested what he was being told Hugo turned and gave his cousin a confused look as they reached the top of the stairs. "I thought we were pretending his name was Severus Prince. Why are we telling Dolohov the truth?"

"Sev's trying to get himself killed."

Hugo gave her a slightly worried look and then picked up his pace so that he could place a hand on Snape's shoulder. "You aren't trying to get him to kill you, are you, Severus? Because if you die in Mr. Prince's body you'll cease to exist, you know that, right? And he would end up in prison for killing Mr. Prince. That you're possessing the man's body wouldn't change that. Actually, it would be like he killed two people." Hugo trailed off then as he considered the legal ramifications of killing someone possessed by someone else.

Alexei gave the older Slytherin a considering look. "Is that what you were hoping for?"

"The possibility crossed my mind."

"Then sorry, but I'll have to pass on the one way ticket to Azkaban."

Hugo breathed a sigh of relief at Alexei's dry response. "That would be best."

Alexei's whole body stiffened as he stopped walking, radiating his dislike for the other man. "I didn't give you permission to talk to me, Weasley."

"Oh. Sorry."

Snape deliberately drew the Slytherin's attention back to him, instinctively wanting to protect the younger boy from Dolohov's likely very sharp tongue. "Any ideas how a portrait's being could be transplanted into a human being? And more importantly, how to undo what was done?"

"Not at the moment. But I will before the end of the day." Was the Slytherin's confident response, already putting his mind to the task.

)

At Snape's request Dolohov was allowed to remain in the room while they discussed the portrait incident and how Snape had come to possess Prince with the top portrait guy. The old man was just as surprised as Dolohov had been and far worse at hiding his shock and interest. A lot of the talk between the two portrait makers was very technical, but the three guests understood enough to get that they were discussing the possibility that it was Prince's genetic blood connection to Snape that had made the transfer possible. As to how the portraits were infused with the 'spirit' of the person depicted was apparently a trade secret that they wouldn't reveal without being ordered by the courts.

Lily had no problem with arguing with people, but the head guy was so old she was pretty sure she came perilously close to giving the guy a heart attack every time he looked at her chest, which was often. And while she was tempted to use that fact to her advantage Lily could respect the man's desire to keep their portrait secrets in house. She was the same when it came to her personal potions.

"I wonder if it's something like Riddle's diary." Hugo suggested while the two portrait makers had a private pow wow in voices too low for them to eavesdrop. "If they somehow infuse the portraits with the personality and memories of the person by channeling some of that person's soul into the picture somehow…could that be it?"

"But that would damage the soul, wouldn't it?" Lily argued, drumming her fingers against the sides of her arms as she lost herself in contemplation. "Could it be what the portraits are made up of that's so important? Like they take samples from the dead person and grind it all up and make it into paint and paper, which magically gives the portrait its former self's personality?"

"That's disgusting." Snape gave her a dark look. "And if that is what they did I intend to sue the government, this company, and your father for letting them do that without my permission."

Hugo's face took on a considering expression, even as he mentally agreed with Snape about Lily's idea being disgusting. It certainly killed a great deal of his interest in the portrait making process.

"Maybe we need to look into chocolate frogs." When they both gave him weird looks Hugo just smiled and elaborated on his latest idea. "Well a person appears on the cards that come with the frogs, right? Even people that have been dead for a long time. And they aren't always there either. Maybe the process used for the cards is a very primitive version of the portraits. If these gentlemen feel that it would be unethical of them to reveal the secrets of their profession than perhaps we should start at the possible beginning and experiment on our own time. Rosie and my mother would help."

Lily gave her cousin a teasing punch in the arm. "I knew there was a reason I feed you. That's brilliant, Hugo."

"Don't you feed me because I need food to live?"

"I was joking, Baby."

"Oh." And since the other two men in the room had been ignoring them for a good twenty minutes while they talked shop Hugo went over to stand in front of them, clearing his throat politely. "We want to thank you both for your time. If you feel that you've given us all the information you're comfortable imparting we'll bid you both good day."

Dolohov rolled his eyes at the Gryffindor. "To investigate chocolate frogs."

"Actually, that is a rather brilliant place to start." The old man wheezed, obviously impressed with Hugo's reasoning skills. "But that process doesn't resemble ours enough to be of value to you, Mr. Weasley. And while I feel there isn't much more I can tell you, I can tell you what Mr. Potter already knows and add a little bit to that. He will tell you that when he approached us about giving you your own portrait, Mr. Snape, we informed him at the time that we couldn't because we require the memories of that person in order to do so. We were pleased and surprised to learn that he had those in his possession already."

Lily's frowned and then broke out in a smile as she realized what the man was getting at. "The memories. The memories Sev gave to my father so that he would know what Dumbledore's plan was during the Battle of Hogwarts. He retrieved them from the Pensieve after Voldie croaked because he thought he might need them to prove to everyone that Snape had done so much for the good guys during the war. He gave you those memories."

"Exactly. And before you ask no, we cannot simply remove Mr. Snape's memories from Prince's body and return them to a new portrait. It doesn't work that way. It's…complicated. There's a lot more to it then just those memories. Was anything left of his original portrait?"

While Snape tried to decide how pissed off he was about his memories being used to make a portrait without his permission Lily answered the old man's question.

"My daddy said that it was damaged and had gone blank. He has it at Auror Headquarters as evidence."

Lacing his fingers together thoughtfully the boss looked over in Dolohov's direction, his voice stern but encouraging as he gave his instructions. "I would like you to go with them, Dolohov, and see if they'll turn the portrait over to you. You have an aptitude for repairing damaged portraits, as well as an affinity for them that's rare. Perhaps you can see something in the portrait's construction that would indicate how it's been altered now that this accident has occurred. That might be key to figuring out how to reverse what was done."

"As you wish, Sir."

)

Once they'd said their good byes and been dismissed the four left the boss's office and head back downstairs, Dolohov obviously less them pleased to be in their company. But the Slytherin did seem fascinated by the assignment, and he'd never been the type to do anything half assed in school so Lily decided to ignore the man's attitude for the time being and instead concentrated on discussing the afternoon with her new assistant.

"So, Sev, I figure after we go to my daddy's office and arrange for Mr. Badass to get your portrait you and I can head somewhere to get you some new clothes. You can't keep wearing Hugo's and even if we could get permission to enter Prince's house you'd sooner be dead then be caught in his clothes. Or should I say you'd rather be chained to my grandfather, since you're already dead."

Snape paled a little at the idea of clothes so horrible that being stuck with James Potter was preferable to wearing them.

Hugo looked the other man over and then nodded his head in agreement. "You're definitely not the pastels type, Severus."

Pastels? And here he'd thought he'd finally escaped the horrors of eighties fashion. Shuddering as he remembered the popular fashions of his early twenties Snape was definitely all for going shopping if it meant he'd be able to wear man colors.

"Yeah, pastels suit you much better, Weasley." Dolohov informed the Gryffindor with a derisive smirk.

"Really? Tori and Domi say jewel tones suit me best."

Alexei could feel a headache of massive proportions developing. This was one of the biggest problems with trying to just needle the Gryffindor, the Slytherin silently groused. The man just didn't get that you were being a jerk to him unless you were brutally obvious about it. Which meant you had to be really nasty to him, which made you feel like crap afterwards because Hugo Weasley was a freak of nature. No one should be able to elicit such strong reactions from people without even trying. It just wasn't fair.

Shaking her head at both of them Lily linked her arm through Hugo's. "Do you need anything wardrobe wise?" She asked him.

While the cousins discussed what he might or might not need to purchase Dolohov moved to walk beside Snape again, having a few questions for the Slytherin.

"So you're living with those two?" When the older man gave a curt, weary nod, Alexei's lips curved into a slight, decidedly Slytherin smirk. "Sucks to be you."

Snape glanced over at the two and then nodded. "You have no idea."

"Please, I was stuck at Hogwarts with them for seven years." Alexei argued, crossing his arms in front of him. "You've only been around them for less than a full day."

"But you weren't actually living with them." Snape countered, not about to admit for one moment that Hugo was rapidly growing on him like a human fungus. He was still stuck in a house with Potter's daughter and that to him automatically made him worse off than the other Slytherin.

Behind them Hugo looked down at his cousin questioningly. "I know why I'm terrible to live with…but why wouldn't he like living with you? You cook as good as Gran, you aren't messy, and you only blow up your lab, never the house. Is it because you two fight a lot? Because that makes no sense, Lily, cause you both obviously like bantering with each other."

Lily smirked in the direction of the man in question, who turned his head to scowl at her. "He's determined to dislike us because he's determined to dislike everyone."

"That's not good."

"Nope, it really isn't."

)

When the knock sounded at his door Harry called out for his visitor or visitors to enter, sitting back in his chair as he watched his daughter, nephew, Snape and a young man he'd never seen before step into his office. The one he didn't recognize had an aura that said Slytherin to Harry, which automatically made him equally wary and curious as he nodded his head in the unknown man's direction. "I know everyone here but you, so why don't we start with that introduction and then you lot can tell me what you learned at the portrait place."

"Alexei Dolohov. I work for the company that creates the portraits."

"The Alexei Dolohov? As in the only Slytherin alive who can successfully bully Hugo here for more than two minutes before apologizing? In the flesh?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, a hint of a smile teasing the corner of his lips at the scowl his words produced on the young Slytherin's face.

Not wanting to hang around the Auror any longer than he had to Snape got straight to the point. "He'd like you to turn the portrait over to him. The people in charge over there think he might be able to figure out just what Prince did that caused my present circumstances. And you had no business giving them my memories to make the portrait in the first place." Snape added with a piercing glare.

"They couldn't make the portrait without it."

"And I needed one in the first place?"

Harry had to work hard to keep his voice even. How the man before him lit his fuse, the Auror thought as he reply. "You were a Headmaster at Hogwarts, Snape. All the Headmasters and Headmistresses have portraits at the school."

Snape's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Given that I had to have been the most hated headmaster the school ever had, I doubt they would have missed me if I'd been exempted from the office wall."

"Sorry to disappointed you, but Phineas Nigellus still has you beat there." Harry shot back with a smirk. "You're only the second most hated."

Hugo looked back and forth between the two men with interest. "Was there a poll? When was it conducted? The perimeters? It seems a bit unfair to compare the two when Severus was there less than a year."

Lily's laughter rang through the room.


	5. Explanations Given

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Explanations Given

Once Lily's laughter had died down Alexei inquired as to whether or not the portrait was going to be given to him since he had better things to do with his time then hang around an Auror's office with a bunch of Gryffindors. He might have wanted to see the portrait and study it, but just being in this particular department unnerved the Slytherin, though he didn't want anyone to know that. He'd never met his great grandfather, but he'd met others who had spent time in Azkaban with the old man. Just the thought of going to such a place freaked him out. And an Auror's office was the first step towards ending up locked up in a cell. It wasn't a rational fear, but he couldn't shake the feeling.

Harry studied the younger Slytherin for a moment and then nodded his head. "You can have the portrait. If your boss thinks you're the best for the job then who am I to argue." Pushing back his chair Harry got to his feet and came around his desk. "We'll go get it now before our Gryffindor-ness infects you."

Leaving the man's office everyone followed him down three levels to the area where crime scene evidence was stored. While they waited for the security guard in charge of the area to retrieve the portrait Snape asked Harry a question that had been turning around in his head.

"Doesn't it bother you, working with him? If I recall my gossip correctly his great grandfather was the one that did in Lupin."

Not surprised at the question or the other man's lack of tact Harry rolled his eyes at his former teacher. "And Andromeda's sister killed my godfather, Tonks and nearly my wife, yet I lived at her place during my Auror training so that I could help her with Teddy. My godson who is also related to a lot of Death Eaters, not to mention who my middle son married, remember? And if I refused to work with everyone related to past Death Eaters I'd never get any work done." Eyes shifting over to meet Dolohov's gaze Harry's lips curved a little. "Besides, from the sounds of it my kids gave as good as they got where this Dolohov is concerned."

Lily's chuckle was downright evil as she tapped her fingers together.

Alexei was not so amused. "I resent that. I was worse than they were."

"You were certainly more verbally abusive towards me than I was to you." Hugo offered, since it seemed to offend the Slytherin, the idea that his cousins had been bigger badasses than him when they were all in school together.

Alexei glared in the other man's direction. "You weren't remotely abusive towards me, you suffer in silence wimp."

Hugo shook his head at the Slytherin. "But I didn't suffer in silence. I knew you were just being mean because you've been indoctrinated since birth to believe your heritage requires you to treat me in a certain way. I just annoy you more than most because I refuse to allow society's norms to dictate my treatment of others, including you."

"Don't kill the Gryffindor, Dolohov." Snape ordered his fellow Slytherin, knowing how he'd react to such a statement in the other man's shoes.

There was a definite twitch under Dolohov's right eye, but he managed to keep his biting response to himself.

Wanting to avoid the trouble as well Harry decided to steer the conversation away from the fighting between his family and the Slytherin's. "Dolohov, I'll leave the portrait with you when it gets here and you can get back to my daughter as to whatever you find out. She'll keep me up to date. Or Snape if you like, since I'd imagine you'd rather talk to him than Lily. Either way, they'll be handling that part of the investigation."

"Fine."

"I'll give you my address, in case you want to stop by and visit." Lily added, grinning at the Slytherin who glared back at her.

Needless to say, as soon as he was given the portrait, Dolohov was gone.

)

After purchasing a week's worth of clothes for Snape the three headed back to the house, Hugo heading inside to do some reading while his cousin and Snape headed for Lily's lab. It was time for her new assistant to be put to work after being given a tour of the facilities. The lab Lily led the Slytherin into was truly impressive, though he would never admit it out loud. The workplace was large and airy, with serviceable table spaces and equipment that appeared well taken care of. It certainly beat the hell out of his workspace at Hogwarts.

When they stepped into her supply room though Snape just about died again in envy. It was the mother of all supply rooms, a Potions Master's wet dream. Walking up and down the aisles Snape actually itched to create and experiment, staring at ingredients he'd never had a chance to get his hands on while he'd been living. That he wanted to work surprised him, he hadn't enjoyed potion making in a very long time. His mother had killed that love for him by the time he'd arrived at Hogwarts as a student. Her zeal to make him overcome the shortcomings of his father's genetics had insured that. It was what he was good at, and he hadn't hated it, but it was only when he'd been creating his own potions that he'd gotten any satisfaction and minor enjoyment out of it. Teaching it had been tolerable, but he wasn't missing it.

Coming to a stop in front of one shelf Snape couldn't help but gap at one of the labels on one of the jars. "This…how the hell did you get this? This is contraband in pretty much every country in the world."

"My uncle is George Weasley."

And that just explained everything, Snape thought with pure disgust. He remembered well the twins bargaining with Mundungus for contraband items for their joke shop. Apparently that hadn't changed even with the success of the store.

Enjoying the look Lily waited a beat before she laughed at his snotty expression. "Relax. That particular item is no longer contraband, FYI. I'm an Auror's daughter, remember? Though I did get that and other stuff from my uncle, his suppliers are better than most."

Reaching out Lily hooked her arm through his, fluttering her lashes at him flirtatiously. "So? You ready to make some magic with me, Sev?"

"That is so wrong, on so many levels, that if my mind was as undersized as yours, it would implode."

Laughing again Lily dragged the reluctant man towards the door leading back into her work area. "Oh relax, Mr. Could have been my grandpa. I'm not going to jump you. There are plenty of willing guys out there who aren't hung up on my grandmother. Now you on the other hand…how long has it been since you've been laid, if you don't mind me asking?"

"If I had a wand." Was his response to that question, the delight he'd take in jinxing her written all over his face.

"Oh yeah, definitely been a while for you, old man."

"Potters. I hate Potters."

Letting go of his arm Lily strutted her stuff over to the doorway, motioning towards it like a model displaying a prize in a game show. "You're the only Snape I've ever met so I can't say the same. Now come on, I'm feeding, clothing and housing you. Time to earn your keep, Handsome."

Snape blinked, having never once, ever, been called handsome. It threw him so much off balance that he actually walked through the doorway like she wanted without even thinking about it. How could he, when he was trying to process the fact that apparently, at least for the moment, he was physically attractive.

It figured that he'd had to die before that could happen.

Unless she was being sarcastic, Snape told himself as he watched her join him in the room, the annoying redhead walking over to a station laden with various tools of their trade. But she hadn't sounded sarcastic. He might not know her well, but one thing he did know was what the damn woman sounded like when she was being sarcastic. But he couldn't ask either, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Pulling out a notebook Lily flipped through the pages until she came to the one she was looking for, shifting it over so that he could see. "As you would know potion making isn't exactly a moneymaker under normal circumstances. Sure we can do a lot of really sick things, but at the end of the day most of what I come up with isn't stuff that the average consumer needs. And as you know, I love to experiment. Making my own stuff is what I love. But to do that I need money. Lots of money unfortunately, since I tend to blow things up when I experiment."

"Are you trying to get my hopes up, suggesting you might blow yourself up in the near future?"

Lily ignored the question and continued her spiel. "Lucky me, I have a way of making money to finance my operations, which is where you come in. In this notebook are the potions I make for my cousin Dominique's store. We make the stuff, put the crap into these girlie bottles she insists on, and rake in the dough."

Flipping through the book Snape saw immediately what it was they were making and the theme behind it. "This is all girlie crap. Stuff to decrease cellulite, wrinkles, clear up acne, repair split ends…this is how you make money?"

"Yup." Lily rolled her eyes expressively. "I know, right? But sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And I'm the best."

"And you call yourself a Potions Master."

"Hey, I earned that title. And I invent really cool stuff with the money I make from that crap. It's not my fault that women everywhere have been brainwashed by people, mainly assehole men like you, to think that they need all that junk in order to attract and keep you wankers interested. They're going to buy it somewhere, might as well buy from me and my cousin since at least our beauty crap actually works."

Snape gave her an insulted look. "Don't lump me in with asseholes like your grandfather or Black. I didn't judge people by their appearance."

"Everyone judges everyone by the way they look." Lily shot back. "Some of us just pretend we don't, or are forced to get to know the people we're judging so that we have to rearrange our stereotyping."

Snape was about to snap right back when he gave her an accessing look. "You don't use the stuff you make, do you?" Admittedly he hadn't been around her a lot, but she'd never been heavily made up in his presence before. At least not noticeably.

She didn't need it, Snape thought absently, pushing that thought out of his head as soon as it registered.

"Well I have to test the crap out on someone, don't I? But if you mean do I spend hours in front of the mirror looking for grey hairs or wrinkles, no. Why would I? Freaking out over that sort of stuff only ages you prematurely anyway."

"Hmmm." Snape considered continuing the argument, but since they were actually on the same side for once, which was disturbing, the Slytherin opted to change the subject. "So which of this crap are we making today?"

"I'll show you."

)

The two had been working in companionable silence for a little over two hours, the only sound coming from the radio Lily had put on, turned to the classic station that played music Snape had listened to when he was a teenager. It was the only station they'd both been able to agree on. The man had been quite upset to learn that his music was now considered classical.

A new sound came in the form of the front door being open, and a familiar voice called out. "Lily, is it safe?"

"Yes." Lily called out, not taking offense. People did have to worry occasionally where her lab was concerned.

Walking across the room Hermione Granger Weasley stopped short when the two Potion Masters turned to face her, the woman's shock written all over her face. "You really do look just like Alan Rickman. That is so wrong on so many levels."

Snape recognized her immediately. "Granger."

"Weasley now."

The Slytherin's lips curved into a sneer. "Like no one could see that one coming."

Hermione just stared and shook her head, setting her briefcase on one of the lab's tables to free up her hands as she moved forward. "That you would be put in a body like his is so wrong. I'm never going to be able to have a fantasy about Alan Rickman again. You've ruined him for me, now that I've seen him sneer in a Snape sort of way at me. It's just so wrong. Thank God you don't sound like him."

"Sound like him?" Snape repeated, not sure why that would be so important to her.

"Alan Rickman has one of the sexiest voices ever." Lily explained while her aunt continued to shake her head over the situation. "If you talked like him…well lets just say getting laid would never be a problem for you. Though now that I think about it…you sorta do sound like him when you just wake up." The look on the redhead's face showed that she was now as disturbed as her aunt.

"He sounds like Alan Rickman when he's sleepy?" The older woman looked horrified. "That's even worse than him looking like him."

Snape joined them in being horrified at the way the conversation was going, and cursed this Alan Rickman for ever having existed to put him in his present predicament.

Coming into the lab, having remembered that he needed to return a book he'd borrowed, Hugo took one look at his mother's face and paled. "Who died?"

"No one's died. Well not recently anyway." Hermione amended with a dark look in Snape's direction, mentally wishing the man had stayed dead. "I'm just reeling over the fact he's…he's Alan Rickman now and that's so unfair and…and you have to get him out of this body ASAP."

Hugo nodded in understanding. "Because Dad will be upset that you know a man who looks just like Alan Rickman?"

"No, because your father will annoy me endlessly, teasing me over the fact that I've met a man who looks like Alan Rickman but who is, in fact, our former Potions teacher." The woman's tone of voice indicated that her husband would pay dearly if he decided to tease her about this. She'd been a devoted fan of the British actor longer than she'd been married to Ron Weasley. Alan Rickman came first.

"I just realized something…Aunt Hermione…he's even LIKE the characters Alan Rickman is best known for playing. I mean he's not evil the way some of them were…but the whole smug, arrogant, I'm so much smarter and better than you attitude…he's got it in spades."

While his mother bemoaned that fact Hugo tapped a finger against his cheek as he mused outloud, intrigued by his cousin's observation. "Which of the characters is he most like, though? Definitely not the judge from 'Sweeney Todd', Alex from 'Star Quest', or the caterpillar from 'Alice in Wonderland', the Tim Burton version. I'm thinking Hans from 'Die Hard' would be the best fit here, though not a perfect one of course."

Lily cocked her head to the side. "I don't know, I'm thinking more Metatron from 'Dogma'. Which is so wrong, because I've always considered him at his sexiest in that movie. Of course that could be because he's the only seriously hot guy in that movie. Affleck and Damon were more cute than hot, and may that blonde prophet be neutered for the sake of all humanity." She added darkly, having always felt that that character had dragged down the awesomeness of the rest of the film. "And you know, it's always struck me as weird that I'd find Rickman so hot in that movie since it's the one movie where he's lacking a very important part of his anatomy."

Hermione nodded sagely, understanding her niece's comment completely. "There is irony to that. But who better to be the voice of God than Alan Rickman?"

"He played the voice of God?" Snape repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Lily grinned. "Yup. And heck, as far as I'm concerned, that man could cause me to be burned at the stake or thrown in a loony bin any day, if it meant I got to hear his voice twenty four seven."

Hermione grinned and shared a very knowing look with her neice. "Amen."


	6. Cause To Scream

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Cause To Scream

Having finished dressing for his fifth day of purgatory on earth with Lily Potter, Snape had just closed his door behind him when a female scream ripped through the air. Head swerving in the direction it had come from the Slytherin moved without thinking, running to Lily's door and throwing it open as he came charging in, determined to somehow defend her from whoever or whatever meant her harm. He'd only taken two steps into the room when a blur he recognized Lily came zooming up to and around him, shocking him by leaping onto his back and wrapping her arms and legs around him to keep herself there.

"MOUSE!"

Ears ringing from her screeched word it took Snape a minute to regain the ability to think and process her words. "A mouse?"

"Under my blue shirt there! See the lump? Get Rid OF IT!"

"You're screaming because of a mouse?" A twitch appeared under the Slytherin's eye as he realized the stupidity of all this, on top of the embarrassing fact that he'd actually come running to her rescue like an idiot. He wanted her dead after all.

"It was a mouse?" Hugo asked from the doorway, his wand in his hand. "I see. She's very phobic about them." He informed Snape as he came further into the room, stashing his wand in his pajama pocket. "When she was five her cat Mittens killed a mouse and put it on Lily's pillow as a gift while she was sleeping. Ever since she woke up to see that mostly decapitated rodent bleeding all over her pillow, she hasn't been able to stand the sight of them."

Okay, he could sort of see how that would be traumatizing. For a girl. His Lily would have freaked out too. "So you'll stop screeching if we kill the thing and remove it' body from the house?"

"YOU CAN'T KILL IT!" Lily announced, making his ears ring again since her lips were so close to his ear. "What's he ever done to you? He's just a little mouse!"

"We have to catch it and set it free outside." Hugo informed the Slytherin, leaving his cousin to the older man's care while he calmly walked over and cupping the moving bump under the shirt lifted it up to cradle the clothing wrapped mouse in his hands. "I'll go take it outside. "

Lily watched her cousin leave the room, making a loud sigh of relief as she started to loosen her hold on Snape, a stray thought having her retighten her grip. "You better check to make sure it's just the one. He could have friends still hanging around."

"Given your screams I find that highly unlikely even if that were the case." Snape informed her stiffly, not liking their present positions at all. "And exactly how do you propose I hunt for them with you hanging off my back like the spoiled brat you are?"

Lily's tone of voice would have done her maternal grandmother proud. "If you dare to make a joke about my weight right now I swear I'll turn you into a caterpillar and give you to Tim Burton to put in his next film."

Rolling his eyes Snape decided to just ignore her and briskly started walking around the room with his eyes on the floor. After making a quick survey of the place and refusing to look under her bed for her Snape came to a stop and stubbornly crossed his arms in front of him. "That's it, now get off of me."

A number of nasty words came to mind but Lily slid off his back and didn't say any of them. "Thank you for looking." He'd only made a little fun of her phobia and in the logical part of her brain she knew she was silly to freak out over mice so much. But some fears were just illogical and hers was one of them.

Turning around, intending to chastise her for her childish behavior, Snape stared blankly at the girl as he went pale as a ghost, then red as a tomato.

Raising an eyebrow Lily followed his gaze, only remembering now that she'd been in the process of getting dressed when she'd spotted the mouse on her floor. She was only wearing her underwear. But it wasn't old or overly revealing underwear so it could have been a lot worse, she decided as she looked back up to meet his gaze, a teasing gleam in her eyes. "Enjoying the view?"

The sounds and words he made were so garbled Lily doubted even he knew what he was saying.

Amused by him Lily headed over to her bed and retrieved the jeans she'd left there, the sound of him stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind him bringing a wide grin to her lips.

"He's so damn cute when he's flustered."

)

Sitting at the kitchen table as he waited for his water to finish heating up Snape was very tempted to track down Hugo, steal the boy's wand, and then turn it on himself. He'd seen Lily Potter in her underwear. Could not stop seeing her in her underwear in his mind no matter how much he wanted to block the images forever. And to top it all off, now that he wasn't looking for mice or being annoyed by her, he realized that she'd had her bare legs wrapped around his hips and her breasts pressed up against his back. Her large, beautifully shaped, perfectly displayed in bronze colored silk and lace breasts.

She was far more built than her grandmother.

Not that he'd ever seen his Lily in her underwear of course, but he had seen her in a bathing suit. His childhood friend had looked like a boy in comparison to this Lily's voluptuous dips and curves.

"She's driving me insane." Snape said softly to himself as he rubbed his hands over his face. "And it hasn't even taken her a week."

"It hasn't taken her a week to do what?" Hugo asked as he came in, walking straight to the stove to check the status of the water before walking over to take a seat beside the Slytherin. As per usual his hair was sticking up all over the place and he was still in his pajamas, but Lily's screaming had woken him up enough that he was functioning even without the caffeine hit. "Are we talking about Lily?"

"Nevermind." The last thing he wanted to do was discuss the girl's unfortunate affect on him, especially with this one. Not that Hugo would blab, but still…"The mouse is taken care of I presume?"

"Yup. I let it go far away from the house so hopefully it doesn't come back." Plopping his elbows on the table Hugo thoughtfully rested his head in his hands. "I don't like sharks. I don't have a traumatizing experience to explain it, but I just don't like their eyes. There's something…soulless about them. Is there a creature you don't like to be around?"

Dementors came to mind, but that wasn't what the boy meant. He was asking about a regular member of the animal kingdom. "No."

Walking into the room Lily headed straight for the kettle, only she removed it from the stove and headed over to the table, pouring the hot water into Snape's cup, smiling at her cousin when he got up to get them cups for their tea. "So what are you boys talking about?" Lily asked as she set the kettle down on the pad so that it wouldn't burn the table. She set enough things on fire on a daily basis.

Coming over with cups for them Hugo told her that they'd been discussing animals that they didn't like and how Snape apparently loved all animals.

"I didn't say I love animals." Snape muttered, doing his best to ignore the girl watching him with such an amused gleam in her eyes.

"And speaking of animals." Hugo pointed in the direction of their kitchen window, where a snowy white owl had just started pecking at the glass pane. Getting out of his seat the younger man walked over and offered the owl his arm, bringing it back with him to the table. Shifting it up to his shoulder Hugo retrieved the letter, recognizing the distinctive stationary. "It's from Domi."

Taking the letter from Hugo Lily opened the letter and withdrew the single sheet of parchment. Reading the short letter Lily couldn't help but roll her eyes and shake her head at the soap opera that was so often her cousin's life. "Apparently a man's first wife and his second trophy wife both came into the shop yesterday and got into a brawl fest. They destroyed a bunch of merchandise, which Domi is of course making them pay for through the nose. But now she needs new stuff to replace the damaged goods and she's hoping I can bring some stuff by later today."

Taking a sip from his cup Snape gave her a questioning look. "Do we have what she needs?" They'd certainly made enough girlie stuff over the last few days. And he'd rather talk about potions than think about other things.

Lily consulted the list her cousin had written at the bottom. "We should be good. I don't have quite the quantity she wants for the hand cream, but she'll just have to deal. That stuff has to sit for a while before it can be sold. I'll have to throw a couple things together too, but they're fairly easy stuff. You can still have the day off to work on your portrait problem like I promised." She added, certain that that was what he really wanted to know.

Snape gave her a dark look. "If a rush order is necessary I can assist you with it." He was well aware of how indebted he was to her, how much money she had to have spent on his clothing and food. She was a pain in his arse no question, but that didn't change the fact that he'd rather have his teeth yanked out with pliers than owe her.

"I'll help too." Hugo volunteered. Potion making wasn't really his thing but he was knowledgeable enough that he could assist them both without pulling a Lily and blowing the lab up.

"And people say I have bad taste in men." Lily laughed, toasting each of them in turn. "Thanks, Guys."

"You do have bad taste in men." Hugo pointed out in all seriousness. "Almost as bad as my taste in men. It's one of the reasons people always know we're related."

Shaking his head at the both of them as they discussed who'd dated the worser man Snape just drank his tea and soaked in what was quickly becoming a normal breakfast for him. Breakfast and a show, as it were, he thought with the faintest of smiles.

)

The three spent four solid hours working in the lab, breaking for only twenty minutes for some quick sandwiches for lunch. Hugo ably assisted the two Potions Masters, moving back and forth between the two as they put together the various potions sold at Domi's store that didn't require time to mature. Putting all the various liquids and creams into their assigned bottles took up a good hour as well but finally they had enough to tide Domi over for a while.

Using magic they shrunk the various boxes down and into a pouch that Lily's could easily carry on her person.

Rolling her shoulders to get the kinks out Lily looked over at the other two questioningly. "Well I'm going to go deliver this stuff to Domi before she comes here looking for me with blood in her eyes. You two going to hang out here or do you want to come too?"

Hugo gave her a regretful look. "I have work to do, sorry." He'd taken to bringing his work home with him since his two roommates fought less when he was around. And he didn't mind being a buffer because he liked them both and found the newest addition to their home fascinating. But he did have to get some stuff done or he'd get behind.

"I'm staying here too."

Not surprised by that in the least Lily smiled at the two. "Okay then. You boys behave and I'll be back within the hour."

Watching her leave Snape was mortified to find his eyes going to her retreating rear end, remembering how her butt had looked covered only in silk panties.

Damn woman.

Hoping to distract himself the Slytherin looked over at Hugo, remembering the reason the other man hadn't been around to keep Lily from driving him crazy the night before. "How'd your blind date go?"

Hugo's gaze was ruefully as they headed out of the lab as well, their destination the house. "I've had worse first dates, but I won't be seeing her again. Hopefully."

"That bad, huh?"

Having been raised to be a gentleman Hugo couldn't bring himself to speak badly of a woman. "Just not my type."

His instincts saying there was a lot more to the story Snape didn't pry, he had never had real guy friends and didn't know how to relate to them that way. Though he and Hugo got along really well considering they couldn't be more different in personalities and pasts, the Slytherin thought to himself. But he wasn't the gossipy sort and he got the sense that Hugo wasn't either. So he'd leave it for the time being.

The two separated company when they reached the house, Hugo going to his room to work while Snape headed for his, intending to go over the notebook he'd started that was dedicated to his research involving his portrait accident and the possible ways to reverse what had been done. So far he wasn't getting very far, and could only hope that Dolohov was having better luck with his portrait research. Otherwise he might be stuck here for a lot longer than the near future.

And if that happened, he was moving out and taking Hugo with him. Lily was not a good influence on that boy, who was never going to be a man the way she babied him all the time.

And what magical spell the boy had casted to make him so bearable to be around flabbergasted Snape as much as the mystery behind his portrait incident. He didn't take to people. He didn't like people.

He liked Hugo Weasley.

His world as he knew it was truly coming to an end.

Oh but he missed the good old days when the only good Weasley was one he didn't have to see or speak to.

Shaking his head, like he could shake his foreign thoughts from his head, Snape forced his attentions back to the notebook and dedicated himself for the next hour to writing out theories, areas to look into, and questions to ask Dolohov the next time he saw the man. Though given the other Slytherin's dislike of his other two roommates he might have to settle for sending the man a letter with his queries.

Or go and visit the guy. Maybe he'd get lucky and the other Slytherin would rub off on him a little.

)

Lily returned a little later than expected thanks to the fact that her cousin had kept her around for some catch up gossip. It hadn't helped matters that one of the things Domi had wanted to talk to her about was the new women's lingerie store that had opened up just down the block from 'Royal Treatment', her cousin's shop. Domi had insisted that she had to check it out and when she had…well…since there was always the chance that Sev might see her in her underwear again it had seemed only sensible to buy a couple of things, just in case.

Not that she was-okay, yes she was sort of attracted to the Slytherin. He looked like Alan Rickman after all. How could she not be just a little attracted, even with the man's multiple personality flaws. And he was certainly interesting to be around, Lily thought with an amused smile, thinking of the last few days.

But now that she thought about it she was feeling a little weird about the fact that she'd bought new underwear, especially since he was so hung up on her grandmother, Lily thought with a wince as she shoved her new purchases into her lingerie drawer, not wanting to look at them as she questioned her sanity.

Walking over to take a seat on her bed the Gryffindor couldn't help but do a quick scan for furry visitors, making a sound of relief when none were spotted. Then she was sorry there weren't any mice to freak out over because that at least would take her mind off the fact that she was sorta attracted to a guy who was not only old enough to be her grandfather, but who had spent pretty much his entire life worshipping her grandmother.

That alone should have upped the ick factor into the…whatever sphere was farthest away from Earth. She was too frazzled to remember at the moment. She'd ask Hugo later.

But physically he was only old enough to be her dad…and she had always had a thing for older men. Not men that old, she didn't want to give her father a heart attack after all, but still, she liked mature men since most of the ones her age were immature idiots. And he got her love of potions and when she talked about her work he actually understood what she was saying and trying to do. He constantly argued with her, which she liked since she hated weaklings who let her have her way all the time, and…and….

She really, really needed to start dating again before she did or said something really, really stupid.

The sound of the doorbell going off struck Lily's as oddly foreboding as she got to her feet.


	7. Under Discussion

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, enjoy.

Under Discussion

Heading for the door Snape hoped that it was Dolohov, the younger man had sent a message an hour ago indicating he might drop by. He needed the distraction thanks to the redheaded demon he lived with. He'd caught sight of Lily coming back earlier and the bag she'd been carrying had blatantly advertised what sort of shop she'd gone to before coming home. Like he wasn't suffering enough, the Slytherin thought darkly, now he had to wonder what she'd bought at some lingerie place and how she'd look in whatever it was she'd bought. Curse that woman to Hogwarts and back.

And speak of the devil, Snape mentally cursed as Lily popped up, obviously intending to answer the door too. "I can get it."

Opting not to comment about his curt, snide tone of voice Lily just shrugged and followed him to the entrance. "It's my house. It might be for me."

But it wasn't. It was indeed Dolohov, who scowled at her.

"Another Slytherin at my door? Oh happy day." Lily drawled out, deliberately linking her arms through Snape's. "But I'm sorry, you're too late, Dolohov. Mr. Tall Dark and Snakey here has already won my finicky, choosey heart. But there's always Hugo if you're interested. You'd have to be nice to him though, or I'll have to have my hunky hunk here beat you up."

Snape stared down at the girl like she was from another planet. "You're going to hell, you know that, don't you?"

Lily beamed up as him. "Of course I am. That's where you're going, and I don't ever want us to be separated."

Crossing his arms in front of him Dolohov didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed by them. He decided to be amused, since they were sure to annoy him plenty later. "Are we just going to stand here or are you going to let me in?"

Yanking his arm out of hers Snape gave Lily another dark look and then moved off to the side, blocking her view as he motioned for the other man to come inside. Closing the door behind Dolohov Snape followed the man out of the hallway, Lily at his heels just to annoy him. He was about to suggest that they head outside to talk on the porch, away from the girl behind him, when the doorbell went off again.

"Yay, another gentleman caller! You going to invite this one in too? Are you going to beat them up while I watch?"

Snape scowled. "Go and answer it."

Chuckling, Lily headed for the door, her smile dimming a little as she saw who was standing on her doorstep. "Hey, Roxy. What's wrong? Are you okay?"

The girl smiled weakly. "I've been better. Is Hugo here?"

"Yeah, sure, he's working upstairs. Come on in." Closing the door behind them when Roxy was inside Lily turned her head to look at the two Slytherins watching them with interest. "You two go and do whatever. Roxy, go ahead and take a seat in the parlor, I'll go get Hugo so that you can talk to him about whatever's bugging you."

Roxy watched her younger cousin disappear and then turned her attention to the two men who'd yet to move. "Dolohov? Someone hasn't killed you yet? Now there's a surprise. And you…I know you from somewhere but I can't place it." Walking over to Snape the girl held out a hand in his direction. "I'm Roxanne Weasley, and you are?"

Reaching out Snape shook the girl's hand briefly. "Severus Prince."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound familiar. It will come to me though." Roxanne's gaze was thoughtful as she studied the man's face. It was really going to bug her if she couldn't remember where she knew the harshly handsome man from. She'd ask Lily when her cousin got back and they were alone, Roxanne decided. "So what brings you guys here? Are you Lily's latest assistant, Mr. Prince? She goes through them so fast that I forget their names easily."

"I am. And Dolohov is here to see me."

"Gotcha." Nodding, Roxanne got the sense that Lily's newest assistant was as much a people person as Dolohov, maybe even less so. But they were both good looking so it was her prerogative to cut them a break and just admire their looks while giving them the silence they seemed to want since they didn't want to talk to her.

When she heard the sound of feet coming down the stairs George Weasley's only daughter nearly mowed the two men down in her haste to get to her youngest cousin. Throwing her arms around him Roxanne held him tight as she blurted out her apology. "I am so sorry, Baby! So sorry! I didn't know she was a dominatrix when I set you up with her!"

Standing at Snape's side Dolohov looked over at the man questioningly, a hint of horror lacing his words. "What did she just say?"

"There, there, it's okay." Hugo assured his cousin as he patted her back. "You didn't know."

"Huh, no wonder you didn't want to talk about your date." Lily gave her cousin a sympathetic look. "Ouch. She didn't hurt you, did she, Baby?"

"You set him up with a dominatrix? What were you thinking?" Snape snapped at the girl who'd apparently set up the perpetually happy and harmless Hugo with a woman who got off beating the crap out of people.

Roxanne let him go, looking absolutely miserable. "I didn't know she was a dominatrix. I barely know her. She's a friend of a friend. I was telling Adria how Hugo was going through a dating drought and she said how she had this friend who might be interested in him. Apparently Adria misunderstood what I meant when I said that Hugo needs a strong-willed, independent, and in charge sort of woman in his life. That he needs someone to direct him because he's too sweet for his own good. She thought that was my delicate way of saying he likes to be dominated in bed!"

"Ah, that explains her confusion when I tried to explain that I wasn't interested in spending the night handcuffed to her bed."

Everyone turned and looked at the boy.

"She took my refusal to be punished very well considering she was under such misconceptions about my sexual preferences. Tell Adria not to feel bad, won't you, Roxy? It certainly wasn't my worst first date after all." Hugo patted his cousin on the shoulder. "At least she wasn't a pedophile."

"A pedophile?" Snape repeated, almost afraid to ask.

The two female cousins nodded their heads in unison.

Turning to look at Hugo Snape took in the curly hair, guileless expression, the innocent sweetness the young man all but radiated like a human sun. The boy was too old now to attract pedophiles, but when he was younger…dear lord. And from the sounds of it only the type of predator hunting the clueless lamb in front of him had changed. "That's it, you aren't allowed out of this house without adult supervision, Hugo. Lily and I will work out a schedule if necessary." Snape pointed a threatening finger in Hugo's direction to punctuate his words. The boy was going to end up dead in a ditch somewhere if someone didn't properly take charge of him.

"Are we parents now?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hugo just blinked and then grinned, crossing the hallway with his long strides to draw Snape into a big bear hug. "You do like me, don't you?"

Sighing in resignation Snape wearily gave the man's back a short, manly pat. "You're like a weapon of mass affection."

Roxanne, Lily and Hugo all laughed while Dolohov shook his head and tried not to think about the mental images he was getting of what could have happened the night before.

)

Leaving the Gryffindors behind for the sake of their sanities the two Slytherins soon beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to hear all the information the women were trying to get out of Hugo regarding his date with the dominatrix. They didn't want to know. Retreating to the back porch as Snape had previously planned the two took a seat at the picnic table there, ink and paper already set out for their use if necessary. His notebook was there are well, already open to the first page.

Both men scolded when Lily appeared as soon as they'd sat down.

"Oh relax, you two. I just wanted to know if you guys want anything to drink while you're out here and I'm up getting stuff already. I figured Sev wouldn't remember to ask." She added with a smirk in Snape's direction. "Unlike him I know how to be a good host."

When both assured her that they didn't want anything the Gryffindor saluted them and then headed back into the house with plenty of swing to her hips.

Turning his head back so that he was facing Snape Dolohov's expression was almost sympathetic. "I stand corrected. You really do have it worse than I did, don't you?"

"Every day it gets worse." Snape agreed, fighting back the urge to whack his head against the table a couple of times in the hopes of knocking some sense into himself. It probably wouldn't work anyway, the Slytherin thought mournfully. "Do you have good news for me?" He doubted it; he was rapidly losing any hope that he might shortly escape the madhouse he was currently living in.

Schooling his features the younger Slytherin shook his head. "I don't have good or bad news. At this point I'm still at a loss as to how you came to possess the body you're currently residing in. It shouldn't have been possible."

"So far all my theories have proven groundless too."

Scowling, Dolohov was obviously as peeved as Snape by their lack of answers. "It seriously irks me that a smarmy git like Justin Prince was able to pull off something that we can't figure out. He was a real prick, in case Potter didn't tell you. Of course he probably did it completely by accident. He didn't want you to take over his body after all. Has your hostess volunteered any ideas?" As much as he hated to admit it Lily Potter wasn't nearly as flakey or bubble headed as she seemed. Though it would thoroughly piss him off if she came up with a working theory after his own failure, the younger Slytherin thought darkly.

"I haven't asked her, but I think she'd volunteer the information if she'd come up with anything."

Dolohov nodded his head in agreement.

"So Weasley's grown on you that much? He tends to do that for reasons I've never understood." Though it would really be in the braniac's best interests if Snape took the annoying twit under his wing so to speak, Dolohov thought with feeling. Maybe then the curly haired moppet would be bearable to be around.

"Don't remind me."

The other man smirked.

Snape was not amused. "You wouldn't think it so amusing if you were living with him. He'd probably wear you down too."

"Normally I'd try to prove otherwise, but I'd rather not have the entire Potter/Weasley clan out to kill me because I couldn't survive being around him for twenty four hours without maiming him."

Shaking his head Snape didn't bother to argue, there was no point.

Getting down to business the two went over what theories they had come up with between them, agreeing with each other's assessments that they weren't close to figuring things out yet. They'd been out discussing possibilities for nearly thirty minutes when it started to drizzle, the men quickly collecting up their papers and stuffing them into their pockets. Both getting to their feet they were moving towards the back door when it suddenly opened, Hugo coming out at an unwise speed given his habit of moving faster than was smart given his uncoordinated nature.

Crashing straight into Dolohov Hugo weighed enough to send them both falling towards the patio, the Gryffindor too used to falling for his reaction to the situation not to be automatic. Twisting them around so that he was on the bottom Hugo wrapped one arm around the Slytherin's waist, the other hand cupping the back of the other man's head, forcing Dolohov's face against his neck to insure he would take all the damage.

Wincing as they landed Snape hurried over, ignoring the rain washing over him as he crouched down beside them. "You two okay?"

Bracing a hand on either side of the Gryffindor's head Dolohov hauled himself up on his hands, glaring down at the man he was lying on top of. "How is it that you haven't learned by now THAT YOU'RE TOO UNCORDIUNATED TO RUN ANYWHERE?"

"Technically I wasn't running." Hugo pointed out, staring up at the Slytherin with a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmmm, interesting."

Scowling, Dolohov glared down at the idiot. "What's interesting?"

"You're heavier than I imagined you would be."

"Why the hell would you imagine how heavy I would be on top of-." Noticeably paling the Slytherin couldn't have gotten off the Gryffindor any faster than he did. "I'm going home!" And without looking back Dolohov stomped across the porch, down the stairs, and across the lawn around the house until he was out of sight.

Snape watched the other man go and then standing up held out a hand to Hugo, who took it with a wince as he allowed the Slytherin to pull him up to his feet. "The usual bumps and bruises?"

Hugo paused, thoughtfully taking silent inventory of his gangly, often bruised and occasionally battered body. "It would appear so. We didn't fall from that great a distance. He looked okay to you, right?"

"Pissed, but he'll live." Snape knew he shouldn't ask, it was stupid, but he couldn't stop himself. "Dolohov is your type?"

"Told you my taste in men was even worse than Lily's." Was his rueful reply. "And it's not so much that I want to date him, because I think he'd end up killing me at some point, but I really would like to shag him if the opportunity were to ever present itself. Not that it will, but imagining it is quite an enjoyable pastime."

Shaking his head Snape walked over to open the door, holding it open for the both of them. When they were inside the Slytherin gave the Gryffindor a questioning look. "So why were you going outside anyway? To see him?"

"No. I came out to tell you that I asked Lily to make chicken pot pie for dinner tonight since you said it was a favorite of yours earlier. She sent me out to ask you how much you can eat so she knows how big to make it."

Well at least the redheaded imp from hell was good for something, Snape thought as they headed towards the kitchen.

)

Lily wasn't sure what had woken her, staring up at the ceiling she scowled and tried to go back to sleep without any success. Damn, wasn't that always the way, Lily thought darkly as she threw off her covers. She shouldn't have had that wine before she'd gone to bed. Sighing, Lily paddled across the room and opened the door, walking to the bathroom with a hand over her mouth to muffle her yawns.

Once that chore was done Lily washed her hands, dried them, and then headed back towards her bedroom, pausing in the hallway.

Turning her head in the direction of Snape's bedroom door Lily cocked her head thoughtfully. Was that a groan she'd just heard? He had eaten third helpings of her chicken pot pie after all. Maybe he'd given himself indigestion?

Walking up to the door Lily paused, knowing that he wouldn't want her to see him this way if he really was feeling ill. But even as she thought that she heard another groan that had her deciding that his pride was just going to have to take the blow.

Hurrying back to the bathroom she switched on the light so that she could see what she was doing, heading for the medicine cabinet so that she could find the potion he'd need to take to settle his stomach. That retrieved Lily walked back towards the bathroom door, pausing as she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

She was wearing her pajamas, short cotton shorts and a baby blue tank top. He had freaked over her skimpy attire before, but this wasn't exactly her underwear. He'd just have to take his prudishness and shove it along with the potion down his throat, Lily decided as she headed from the bathroom to Snape's room, opening the door slowly, poking her head in just in case.

He was tossing and turning under the covers, but he wasn't yelling at her so he was still asleep, probably.

Moving carefully across the room Lily walked over to set the potion down on the bedside table, turning the lamp on beside the bed. Sitting on the side of the bed Lily reached out intending to shake the man awake, her hand stopping just over the man's shoulders as he groaned again, and words escaped from the man's lips at the same time.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Drawing back Lily stood over him, watching him toss and turn for several moments. The words he spoke in between painful sounds were garbled, but she caught enough to understand that he wasn't suffering from indigestion.

He was having a nightmare.

He was dreaming about his past.

Pushing aside the covers Lily slid into the bed beside him and carefully wiggled under the Slytherin, drawing him up so that she could shift him up so that his head was pillowed on her chest. Wrapping her left arm around him Lily cuddled him close and hummed under her breath while her other hand stroked through the man's hair.

She couldn't go back and save him from his past, but she could be with him now, so that whatever he was facing in his dreams, he wouldn't be facing it alone.


	8. Taking Care

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Taking Care

Standing in front of the stove the next morning Lily called out a good morning to her men but didn't turn around. It was stupid, but for some reason she felt like if she looked at the Slytherin taking a seat at the kitchen table he'd know just from looking at her what she'd done. And she so didn't want him to know what she'd done, Lily thought ruefully as she studied the breakfast she was cooking. If he knew that she knew he had nightmares, much less that she'd crawled into bed with him to keep him company during the night so that he'd sleep okay, he'd kill her, no question. Well, maybe not kill her, he was pretty fond of Hugo who wouldn't function well without her, but he'd definitely be even harder to live with and she just didn't need that sort of headache.

Of course when the food was done she had to face them, piling up two plates for her and Hugo before informing Snape that he could help himself to whatever.

Walking up to do just that Snape looked over her piled plate and then up to meet her gaze. "Keep eating like that and you're going to look just like your Grandmother Weasley in no time."

"More of me to love." She shot back as she ignored his comment and took her seat, giving Hugo his plate.

Smiling at her sleepily over the rim of his coffee cup Hugo had just enough of the stuff in his system to remember that he was working today. He wasn't sure what time exactly, but his boss had never been picky about that sort of thing given how much overtime he accidentally accumulated throughout the week. Turning his attention to the plate the Gryffindor stifled a yawn and picked up his fork.

"It smells really good, Lily, thanks. Sleep well?"

Had she slept well? Now there was a loaded question. "Well enough, you?"

"Like a log."

Watching both men dig into their food with single minded focus Lily picked at hers as her mind shifted to other thoughts. Like how was she going to know when the Slytherin was or wasn't having nightmares? She wasn't normally a light sleeper, last night had just been a fluke. And she couldn't put some sort of listening device in his room, that was both perverted and creepy as hell.

It hadn't been a problem where her father was concerned, her mother had always been in the bed beside him, to hold him when he needed to be held. He'd tried to hide those nightmares from them, but they'd all known, seeing it on their father's face the next morning even if they hadn't heard him. Al in particular had always been a light sleeper, and it hadn't been unusual to find him sleeping in the hallway the next morning with his blanket, standing guard over their parents' bedroom door. There father had hated them seeing him right after one of his nightmares, and they'd learned young to leave such times to their mother, showering him with love and affection the next day when he'd had time to pull himself together a little.

Only their mother was allowed to see him at his weakest.

Severus Snape would not want her seeing him at his weakest, ever.

Eyes gravitating over towards the Slytherin against her will, Lily wondered who he'd dreamed of the night before. Was it only the death of her grandmother he felt guilty for, perhaps Dumbledore's as well? What about the members of the Order, did he feel bad for those who had died because he'd had to play the part of Voldemort's henchman?

And how did he really feel about her father?

"Eat your breakfast or you'll be wearing it, Potter. Stop staring."

Lily worked up a grin. "Sorry, Handsome, just pretending that you're really Alan Rickman. It makes being in your company so much more tolerable."

No she hadn't. He didn't know quite what she'd been thinking, but the way she'd looked at him had felt…compassionate? Pitying? Confused? All of the above really, which both pissed him off and left him puzzling as to what he was missing. What thoughts were running through that tangled web she called her constantly on a sugar high brain?

"You should eat your breakfast before it gets cold, Lily." Hugo piped up as he walked over to refill his coffee cup. "Most important meal of the day and all that."

"And how many meals would you miss if I didn't pack you lunches or bring you dinner?" Lily pointed out, though she made the effort to scoop up some of her hash browns since he was right. It was going to be a long day and she'd need all the energy she could muster.

Hugo had to concede that she had a point about his own eating habits. Retaking his seat the curly haired Gryffindor gave his two Potions Masters questioning looks. "So what are you two up to today?"

"I'm working on a top secret project that I can't tell you about or I'd have to kill you." Winking at her cousin Lily then pointed her fork in the direction of Snape. "And he's got the day off to work on whatever theories and crap he and Dolohov came up with before the latter ran away from here like a little girl being chased by the Big, Bad Wolf."

"I think Dolohov would consider himself to be the Big, Bad Wolf." Snape pointed out dryly.

"Which makes his running away that much more sad and pathetic. And worrisome now that I think about it." Lily added after a thoughtful pause. "Baby…I think I'll come and pick you up from work tonight, just in case, okay? No coming home by yourself."

"Couldn't he just apparate here?"

Hugo gave the Slytherin a rueful look. "I could try. You see the problem is that when you're apparating you have to concentrate solely on where you want to go and my brain has serious problems with focusing on only one thing at a time. It's just not wired that way. Well, except in the morning, when it's not fully engaged thanks to a lack of caffeine and mental stimulation. But after a long day of using my brain…well I usually get where I'm going, but more than a few times I've ended up somewhere I really…didn't mean to go to. Which is especially bad given that people aren't supposed to see us appearing out of thin air. And getting spliced hurts as much as you'd think it would. Plus our fireplace isn't hooked up to the Floo powder network anymore because I have a stalker in that department and Lily said if she ever broke into our house again she'd experiment on her for the rest of her life. Elaine thought she was joking, but she wasn't. Normally someone drops me off after work unless I forget to ask someone, which happens a lot." Hugo added.

Looking over at Lily Snape had not a doubt in his mind that the girl had been serious about her threat to harm her cousin's stalker. Which reminded him of an earlier question he'd posed-

"Again, WHY is he allowed outside this house unsupervised?"

Lily grinned. "He wasn't meant for a life of captivity."

"And it would get boring." Hugo helpfully put in.

Shaking his head Snape gave them both dark looks. "You two BOTH need keepers."

)

The Slytherin was delighted to have the house to himself after breakfast, Hugo heading off to work while Lily skipped outside to play in her lab. He had no idea what she was working on, and if he glanced out the window every so often to make sure she hadn't blown herself up it was just common sense. After all, he couldn't use her potions lab if she went and blew it up. And who would feed them? The thought of Hugo cooking was enough to give him a migraine.

It was almost six when the Slytherin noticed how late it was getting. They were going to pick up Hugo at six, Snape thought as he pushed back his seat, getting to his feet. So he'd better head downstairs and outside to drag Lily from whatever project she was working on. She'd been very secretive about it, not that he was that interested to learn what she was up to.

Leaving his room Snape headed down the stairs briskly, half way down before Lily suddenly walked into view, the sight of her causing him to stumble on the next step. Reflectively grabbing the guardrail the Slytherin clung to it as he fell back on his ass. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked him innocently.

"I mean why the fuck do you have snakes growing out of your bloody, brainless, noggin, you silly little twit?"

Just to freak him that much more Lily stuck out her tongue, revealing that not only had her potion given her a head full of writhing black, red and yellow snakes, but had forked her tongue like a snake's too.

Jaw dropping Snape couldn't remember ever being rendered speechless so effectively.

"What? Don't you know the life saving rhyme? Red against yellow, you're a dead fellow, red against black, you're okay Jack. As you can see from the way they're stripped, my snakes aren't venomous at all." A gleam came into the girl's brown eyes. 'And besides, you're a Slytherin. Snakes should be a turn on for you."

Snape gave her a dark look as he got to his feet, continuing down the stairs with as much dignity as he could muster. "Right this moment I couldn't be happier over the fact that you're Harry Potter's daughter. Being stuck with you for the rest of his miserable life is just the kind of punishment he deserves."

"Ohhhh, burn." Lily resorted. "Now are you ready to go get Hugo?"

"You aren't seriously going out looking like that."

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?" When he gave her an increased look Lily grinned at him. "Seriously, Sev, this is nothing. I had a body wash potion go so horribly wrong last year that my father said I looked like an Oompha Loompa for three weeks. And I want to show this look to Hugo, see what he thinks about it before I show Uncle George tomorrow." She mostly provided stuff for Domi, but every once in a while she had a Weasley brainstorm of the joke shop variety.

Snape couldn't keep his lips from twitching as he pictures her bright orange, which would have clashed perfectly with her red hair. He'd have paid good money to see it.

Not offended in the least Lily turned her body so that she could slide her arm into his while her snakes hissed approvingly. "I'll show you pictures when we get back. Shall we?"

Studying the snakes Snape looked down and gave her a warning look. "If one of those snakes bites me I'm going to decapitate them all, including you."

"I feel so unloved." Lily pouted, giving him a mock look of hurt.

"More than enough people love you, for reasons that I cannot begin to phantom." He dryly resorted. He might not have met all the members of her large family, but Hugo had insisted on dragging out some photo albums for him to see and in every photo the bond between the family members radiated from the pages.

"When it comes to loved ones there's always room for one more."

Shaking his head at that sentiment Snape simply tugged on her arm, leading her towards the door so that they could be on their way. Love was not a topic he ever enjoyed discussing.

Following him out the door Lily didn't say a word as he locked it and then headed down the path with her arm still in his. How long before he lets go, she wondered as they walked in tandem.

She certainly wasn't going to pull away.

)

Hugo's workplace was a building that had aged well, but was rough around the edges with a well used look to it. The red brick had faded to rose, and Snape stared at the building from a moment as he remembered how it had once looked. It hadn't changed that much since the last time he'd seen it, though it had once been a library. Apparently the building had become too small to hold all the books, moving to another location about twenty three years ago. Now it was used to hold books being translated, which was appropriate enough.

The security guard at the front desk obviously knew Lily well, he just blinked owlishly a couple times at the change in her appearance before telling her to head on up to collect her cousin.

In fact, Snape was surprised that he was the one given the strange looks. He was the normal looking one after all. "A friend of yours?"

"Petey? Sorta. I know pretty much everyone that works here thanks to Hugo. He was just giving you the once over because you're with me. I don't usually bring guys with me when I come to pick Baby up. The difference in our ages probably threw him a little."

Seeing what she was suggesting Snape looked down at her, only then realizing that their arms were still linked. Had been linked since they'd left the house. Utterly mortified by that fact Snape slid his arm out of hers, looking everywhere but at her as he cursed himself for not having noticed earlier.

Pretending not to notice his embarrassment Lily continued to lead the way up to the third floor, making her way through the various bookshelves that separated workspaces in the now dimly lit rooms.

Hugo's area was even messier than most, books piled and stacked all around him from the floor to the desk. He was working away, glancing ever so often at an open book before turning his eyes back to the parchment in front of him, writing out the translation without any hesitation or pause. There was an ink smudge on his right cheek and on his fingers too. That he was completely unaware of them was obvious.

Dolohov could be standing where they were and Hugo would be dead before the boy even realized he had company, Snape thought darkly, shaking his head as he watched the clueless bookworm work away.

Putting her fingers to her lips Lily whistled loudly, this being the signal she and Hugo had worked out so that his brain automatically knew to look around him for whoever had come to interrupt his work.

Looking up at the sound Hugo squinted in Lily's direction. "You've changed your hair. And it's moving."

"Your cousin comes here with snakes for hair and all you can say is that she's changed it and it's moving?"

Hugo shrugged, though he understood where the Slytherin was coming from. Magical mishaps happened in all magical families, but never so often as in his. Relatives regularly showed up at family gatherings either showing the effects of their experimentation or looking for someone to experiment on instead.

"You should have seen the time she turned herself into a redheaded Oompha Loompa."

Lily laughed. "I promised to show him the pictures when we got home. For now let's get you cleaned up and then we'll head to the Leaky Caldron for some pub grub, if that suits you boys."

"I haven't been a boy in a very, very long time." Snape reminded her, crossing his arms in front of her.

"She means it affectionately." Hugo assured his friend with a smile as he got to his feet. "And I take it from the clean up comment that I've ink on me again?" He was always doing that thanks to the fact that he was left handed. The ink always found its way onto his hands and from there his person.

"We'll wait here while you wash up."

"Okay, back in a jiffy."

Snape watched the other man head off to wherever it was he was going to wash up and then turned to look down at Lily. "Now that he's seen your hair might I suggest that you undo your pointless potion so that we won't be more embarrassed than usual to be seen in public with you."

"I didn't bring the antidote with me."

Shaking his head at her Snape resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to put up with her snake hair for the rest of the evening. "You know, it's no wonder so many people don't take you seriously as a Potions Master, wasting your time on pointless potions like this. I can't believe you would waste- no, on second thought, I can absolutely believe that you would waste an entire day on something so useless."

Shrugging her shoulders Lily started rocking back and forth on her heels, not about to argue with him.

After all, she thought, it wasn't like she was about to tell him the truth, which was that the Medusa potion was one she'd had brewing for a while, the concoction needing to sit for two weeks before maturing to its full potential.

No, what she'd spent her day working on was a little gadget that would solve the problem of her being alerted when the Slytherin was having nightmares.

But being far smarter than he gave her credit for Lily didn't say a word.

They remained in mostly comfortable silence until Hugo came back, and then together they headed down to get some dinner, the curly haired Gryffindor in between the two with his arms linked through theirs.


	9. Out On The Town

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.

Out On The Town

Stepping into the Leaky Caldron Snape took the looks Lily was getting to mean that the patrons of the establishment were used to the girl showing up in the pub with a weirdly altered appearance. Not that she didn't make heads turn, but Snape had the uncomfortable feeling that the heads were turning as much to ogle her butt as it was to stare at her snakes. And not liking that one bit the Slytherin turned his gaze elsewhere, noting that the place hadn't changed that much since the days when he'd occasionally stopped in on the way in or out of Diagon Alley.

He'd never been the pub type unless he was meeting someone as shady as he'd been, Snape thought as he scanned the room.

Head turning at the sound of Lily's squeal of delight Snape watched as she ran across the room to throw herself into the arms of a man who he recognized right away from his time in the Headmasters' Office at Hogwarts. And even if he hadn't recognized James Potter the Second from the troublemaker's various trips to see the current headmaster, the Slytherin had no doubt he would have known who the man was from looks alone. The eldest Potter offspring was a fifty fifty mix of Weasley and Potter.

"Wotcher, James, Rachel." Walking over to join them Hugo exchanged hugs with his cousin and the other man's wife, obviously delighted to see them. After explaining that they'd come for dinner Hugo motioned Snape over with enthusiastic hands gestures. "Severus, I want you to meet my cousin James and his wife Rachel. You'd remember her father, Neville Longbottom."

"He certainly remembers him." Amusement in her eyes Rachel studied the man reluctantly coming towards them. She and James had already been informed who Lily's new assistant really was, and she'd been hoping she'd get the chance to meet him. Her father had told her so much about him, and apparently the former Slytherin Headmaster had liked to lecture James from his portrait back when they were at Hogwarts too.

"A former Longbottom…no surprise that you would be dim enough to marry a Potter." Nodding his head curtly in her direction Snape made no move to acknowledge James. He wasn't about to play nice and no one could make him.

Not surprised by that in the least James grinned and held out a hand to the other man, a dare in his dancing eyes. "How's it going, Snape? Long time, no see."

"Die, Potter."

"You know, you should really hate Al more." James drawled out, shoving his hands into his pockets good naturedly. "I mean he at least looks one hundred percent Potter except for the eyes. I take after the Weasley side."

Snape crossed his arms in front of him, voice cold and dripping with the special venom he saved for Potter males. "You might look like a Weasley but you take after both your abomidable namesakes, Potter. While your prat of a younger brother looks just like a stereotypical Potter, he's at least bearable to be around slightly. For a few minutes at a time. Provided he keeps his mouth shut."

Lips twitching James slugged an arm over his sister's shoulder, not too worried about the snakes growing out of her head. She'd have warned them if the things were poisonous. "Aunt Hermione must think it's a crime against nature that he looks so much like Alan Rickman, huh, Kiddo?"

"You have no idea, Bro."

Shaking her head Rachel shared a look with her sister in law before turning her attention to the man who had tormented her father through his years at Hogwarts and looked like he'd rather be anywhere than where he was, which prompted her to ask him a question. "Would you three care to join us for dinner?"

The look the Slytherin directed in her direction suggested that he'd rather be tortured.

"Why don't you keep Hugo company and I'll take Sev over to some corner where he can't annoy anyone but me." Lily suggested as she slid out from under her brother's arm and walked over to slide hers through the Slytherin's instead, ignoring the fact that the Slytherin looked down at her and glared, trying unsuccessfully to tug his arm from her hold. "Talk to you lot later then?"

He didn't want to talk and eat with Lily, but he didn't want to eat and talk with her brother more. And so Snape allowed himself to be dragged off to eat dinner with Lily alone, ignoring the looks they were getting from everyone as she indeed found them seats at a table all but hidden from view. Taking his seat the Slytherin slumped back in his seat and glared coldly at everyone who looked in their direction, especially when that someone was her brother.

"Boy but you must have been a fun date." Lily drawled out, grinning when his head whipped around to meet her gaze so fast it was a wonder he hadn't given himself whiplash.

"What?"

"I'm just saying. You didn't even pull my chair out for me. Definitely not making a good impression.

Snape stared at her in abject horror. "This is not a bloody first date."

Lacing her fingers together in front of her Lily rested her head on her hands. "Is that so? Seems like it is. We're both heterosexuals of the opposite sex, I asked you to dinner, you accepted. We're eating alone and as the asker I'm paying the bill. How is this not a crappy first date?"

"If it were a date, which it most certainly isn't, I'd pay. I'm the man. Any man who would let a woman pay for a date shouldn't call himself a man at all."

"But you haven't any money." Lily pointed out, just to get his goat. "So of course I'm paying for our date."

"It's not a date." Was the Slytherin's forceful reply, his voice practically a hiss.

"When WAS your last date? I'm assuming you weren't so hung up on my grandmother that you went celibate for decades. I mean some people would consider that romantic, but I have three brothers so I'm much more realistic."

"You have two brothers, you incessant twit."

Lily grinned. "I consider Teddy my brother too, Mr. Grouchy. And if you want to change the topic you're going to have to suggest one or talk about what I want to talk about. Note that you're losing more dating points by refusing to answer my questions, FYI."

It took a moment for the Slytherin to remember what FYI stood for. Thank Merlin he'd been a teacher when he was alive, otherwise he wouldn't have realized what she'd meant and had to ask her to elaborate. He'd already learned that ignoring her didn't work, she just asked increasingly annoying personal questions designed to get a rise out of him. And she was becoming alarmingly adapt at making him react to her.

"I suppose I should take some consolation in the fact that everyone here will think less of you for appearing to date a man old enough to be your grandfather."

Laughing Lily blew the shocked Slytherin a kiss across the table. "You only look old enough to be my father and so what? I like maturity in my men, which means I haven't been able to date a guy my age in years. Besides, you look like Alan Rickman, remember? The girls are probably all dying from envy that I've hooked a hottie like you."

Mouth dropping Snape just stared at her in shock.

Understanding, Lily didn't tease him about his reaction. She'd seen pictures of him in his past life and while he hadn't been bad looking she wouldn't have rated him more than decent looking even after the makeover the man had desperately needed back then. Not that looks were all she looked for in a man, and she'd like to think that had she been around back then she'd have seen his potential and chased after him. Gotta love potion-making bad boys, she thought with a dreamy little sigh before catching herself.

Taken aback by the look that had come into her eyes, Snape shifted in his seat, not sure what to think or how to react. He hadn't felt like this since…since he'd realized he'd had a crush on his best friend Lily Evans. This bubbling caldron of terror, happiness and utter confusion all mixed together. That he was feeling it now was as unsettling as it was unexpected.

As uncomfortable with the growing silence as he was Lily called upon her Weasley humor to save them both. "So if anyone asks how I snared you should I tell them you dig on girls with snake hair?"

Rolling his eyes Snape grateful settled back into their familiar, biting banter.

)

Having just finished her lunch the next day Lily paused in the process of heading back towards her lab, the sight of a familiar looking owl making its descent catching her attention. Holding out her arm she smiled when the owl landed, stroking the bird's head affectionately before retrieving the short note attached to the owl's leg. Unrolling it Lily read the short message, lips twitching in amusement as she read the messy scrawl. And message received Lily retrieved a treat for the owl from her workshop and wrote out a return message before sending the bird on its way, waving it off with a grin.

That done Lily leaned back against her workbench as she considered the changes to her night's plans, mentally altering her schedule. It was no biggie, she'd still be around for dinner, she decided, which in the eyes of her men was the main thing. She wouldn't mention she was going out after dinner until she had to start getting ready either. She'd had enough mealtime banter the night before, which wasn't good for the digestion. Not that her solo meal with Sev had gone that bad, the Gryffindor reminded herself as she turned her attention back to the project she'd been working on before she'd headed out for lunch. And it had definitely been in everyone's best interest that she hadn't insisted and cajoled her Slytherin into having dinner with her brother and sister in law too. Snape was one of those people who got nastier the more people he had to deal with. It was his defense mechanism. Not to mention the fact that the Slytherin apparently had trouble distinguishing between her brother James and her brother's namesake, another reason separation had been called for.

But one on one Snape had done reasonably well considering she wasn't his favorite person and he didn't like talking to people. As long as she'd kept the topic on potions and such he'd been willing to speak more than a single, sarcastic sentence.

A definite improvement in their developing relationship, Lily thought with a grin as her mind switched to potion making mode. She had a lot to do before dinnertime after all.

And as planned she didn't mention the message to Snape, nor to her cousin until after dinner that night.

"You two are on your own for a while tonight. I'll be back around midnight, I'd imagine."

In the process of bringing his dinner plate and utensils to the sink Hugo gave her a questioning look over his shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"A party."

"Oh. Have a nice time."

Snape, for his part, said nothing, though he thought plenty. Against his will the Slytherin found himself wondering who the girl was going out with. She hadn't mentioned this earlier, so obviously she'd been given no notice about this party. Some puffed up git who thought he could ask her out at the last minute, probably a Gryffindor. She probably had as bad a taste in men as her grandmother had had. Maybe even worse. He'd heard her and Hugo discuss their bad taste in men, hadn't he? Merlin only knew what kind of arrogant assehole would be coming to pick her up later.

"When's your date getting here?"

Lily turned her head and smiled at the Slytherin. "He's not. I'm meeting him at the party."

Damn, they wouldn't even get a look at the son of a bitch? And what kind of ass didn't even come to pick up his date? Talk about being ill mannered and rude. Lily should want to have nothing to do with a jackass like that.

The Slytherin waited until Lily had gone up to change before trying to get some information from Hugo about whoever the idiot redhead was currently seeing, only to be informed that the other man hadn't even been aware that Lily was dating anyone. But the Gryffindor didn't seem to be worried, which just made Snape feel like he should worry more. What was wrong with the two, being so laid back about the other's messed up love lives.

And so he was left to worry alone, and wouldn't you know it, he'd been right to worry.

When they heard the unmistakable sound of heels on the stairs Snape immediately headed to get a look, Hugo wisely opting to follow after him since he got the sense that the Slytherin was a little tightly wound over something.

Standing in the hallway facing the staircase Snape just stared, dumbfounded.

Her short, dark red hair was gelled back from her face, Lily's eyes smudged and darkened, lips painted a bright, siren red. The strapless black dress she wore was low in the front and short in the skirt, hugging her figure like a lover's hands. Around her upper arms were bands of gold, her stiletto heels the same metallic shine. Her only other jewelry was simple gold hoops, which completed the look perfectly.

She looked and smelled like sin, Snape thought once she came to a stop in front of him.

"You look beautiful, Lily." Hugo informed her when it became apparent that his cousin had struck the older man dumb.

That jolted Snape back. "Beautiful? Beautiful? She needs to get her pretty ass back up those stairs and get some real clothes on."

"You think my ass is pretty, Sev?"

Obviously flustered and unnerved Snape glared at her, pointing in the direction of the staircase. "Go get changed, Young Lady!"

Laughing, Lily placed her hands on the man's shoulders and gave the Slytherin a quick kiss on the mouth that shut him right up. "See you later. Bye, Hugo."

And with plenty of swing to her hips Lily retrieved her coat and then closed the door behind her.

Hugo shook his head and taking the Slytherin's arm started to pull the man into the parlor. They'd play some Wizarding Chess and hopefully that would distract the man for a while, the Gryffindor decided. And if not, he'd just have to get the Slytherin drunk. It could be interesting.

)

"Why isn't she back yet?" Snape demanded to know, waving his pilsner in the air, though none spilled given that he'd pretty much drank the entire contents of it. And he couldn't fill it up because Hugo had insisted on cutting him off and had taken his wand so that he couldn't try to conjure up something else to drink. "She should be back by now, she said around midnight. It's around midnight, isn't it?" He couldn't quite remember how to tell time at the moment.

Lips twitching Hugo propped his elbows on his knees and leaned forward with his head in his hands as he watched the Slytherin with amusement in his eyes. "It's only twenty after eleven, Severus."

Snape glared into his cup. "Still."

"You sure you don't want to play another game of Wizarding Chess?" Hugo asked, trying to distract the man again.

"No. You keep winning." The Slytherin muttered bad temperedly, pretty sure that the last couple games they'd played the Gryffindor had been trying and failing to lose to make him feel better. "And you know, she's your cousin, you should really be worried. I don't even like her ninety nine percent of the time and I'm worried about her. Just don't tell her I worried though…she'll never let me live it down. Not that I'm actually living." Snape snorted in amusement at that.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're an interesting drunk?"

"I'm not drunk and it was never safe to get drunk so I didn't."

Hugo considered the man's blunt statement and then nodded. After all, you were vulnerable when you were drunk. And some drunks were violent, or stupid, or overly affectionate. It wouldn't be a good idea to pick fights when you were surrounded by Death Eaters, nor would the man want to be the affectionate type. It went without saying that it would be dangerous as hell to be stupid around anyone when you were a double crossing spy with secrets coming out of your ears. Secrets that could get you or other people killed in a heartbeat.

"So I'm the first person you've ever been drunk around. I'm flattered."

"I just said I'm not drunk."

"Heh. So you did." Hugo agreed, straightening up. And seeing the words forming in the other man's lips the Gryffindor assured the Slytherin that it wasn't nearly midnight yet.

Snape glared at the other man, pretty sure he was being humored. "I think we should go outside on the porch in case this guy she's seeing has the decency to see her home. That way we can get a good look at the bastard, just in case. Whoever he is, we can definitely take him. You can distract him with your evil cuteness, and I'll curse the prat into the next century. What do you say?"

All set to try and distract the Slytherin again Hugo paused, considered, and then got to his feet. "Sounds like a plan to me." He'd already taken the other man's wand, and the fresh air would probably do them both some good.

Moving over the Gryffindor held out a hand, helping his friend to his feet. "Up we go."


	10. Potter Family Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Potter Family Fun

Snape sat on the front porch, alone for the moment as Hugo had gone in to use the loo. It was a nice night to be outside, though he was in no mood to enjoy it. Part of that was the fact that the night air had sobered him up just enough that he was aware he'd had too much to drink, the rest was just annoyance that he'd been reduced to his present predicament. Logically he knew he should just go inside and go to sleep, that he shouldn't give a rat's ass when the annoying brat got home. She wasn't his responsibility, he owed her nothing. He was pulling his weight in the lab and he'd never asked her to take him in in the first place. So what if she was too young to handle a mature man, was too little and weak to physically fight one off if need be? So what if she was too damn trusting and innocent about how evil men could be? She probably had countless enemies in the dark wizard or witch community but did that stop her, oh no, Snape mentally snarled to himself.

DAMN THAT REDHEAD FROM HELL FOR MAKING HIM WORRY LIKE THIS!

Silently fuming as he cursed her existence in his life Snape would have been mortified if he'd seen himself moments later when he came to immediate attention as he caught sight of two figures walking up the path leading to the house.

Eyes narrowing the Slytherin studied the larger of the two forms, trying to make the man out from the porch. They were standing too damn close together, Snape inwardly snarled over, his anger turning into a kind of stunned shock as the light from the moon above illuminated the unknown man enough that he could get a real idea as to what the man looked like.

He looked like a Potter. So much like a Potter it was unbelievable.

Again, was all he could think as he watched the two get closer and closer to him. It was happening to him all over again.

The pain that thought caused took him by surprise, so that it took longer than it should have for his brain to process the fact that it wasn't that Lily was with a man who looked like a Potter…it was a Potter.

Harry Potter to be exact.

Now that they were almost upon him Snape could see the silver and white threaded through the other man's black hair, the now familiar form and shape of the current head of the Potter family.

"Snape. Good evening." Harry said softly, his voice a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Potters."

Lips twitching and not quite getting what was going on, especially given all the undercurrents she was sensing, Lily looked back and forth between the two men and then settled her gaze on her scowling Slytherin. "So what are you doing out here? I wouldn't have taken you for the nature boy type, Sev."

Snape glared, pissed off by so many different things that he didn't know where to start.

Stepping out Hugo took in the scene with a quick, sweeping glance, the door closing with a loud bang behind him as he hurried out to greet his family members. "Hi, Uncle Harry. What brings you by? Or are you just dropping Lily off?"

"Just dropping my girl off." And not wanting to fight with the Slytherin after an already trying day and evening Harry turned and gave his daughter a one armed hug, kissing the side of her head. "Thanks again for helping me out tonight, Kiddo. Appreciate it." The Auror turned to look at the other two men. "Good night, Hugo, Snape. Pleasant dreams to you all."

"Night, Uncle Harry."

"Night, Daddy." Lily hugged him hard and then waved him off since everyone there knew that there was no way in hell that Snape would return her father's words.

When her father had vanished from their sight Lily crossed her arms in front of her, giving the men a questioning look. "So what have you two been up to while I was away? Not getting into too much trouble I hope."

Hugo smiled at her. "Just some Wizard's Chess. We've been as good as Hufflepuffs."

Snape tilted his head up to give the Gryffindor the darkest of looks. "Compare me to a Hufflepuff again and I'll make you swallow all your chess pieces."

"They would fit down a man's throat." Lily agreed, doing her best to hide her amusement as she shocked the hell out of the Slytherin by taking a seat in the man's lap, even surprising Hugo a little with her audacity. "So, Darling Sev, how badly did my cousin kick your ass at chess?"

"You're sitting in my lap."

Lily laughed at the look on his face. "I'm aware of that. It's surprisingly comfortable, in case you were wondering."

"I ought to drop you on your ass."

"My pretty ass, remember?" Lily countered, knowing him well enough to know that he really would dump her on her butt. So she got up and brushed her skirt down since sitting on his lap had hiked it up a little. "So shall we go in then? This dress isn't meant to keep a girl warm."

Watching them both of them carefully Hugo posed the most important question of the evening. "So you were out with your dad tonight, Lily?"

"Yup. Mum caught that cold that's going around, the one the healers haven't quite figured out yet. Daisy Redwing was going to be at the party so Mum asked me to come with Da since she knows that that man stealing barracuda is scared of me and won't dare to even try and pinch Daddy's ass while I'm around. I had to stay by his side for the entire night though, she was circling him like a shark the whole time, trying to find an in. I'm almost sorry she didn't dare try though. These heels weren't just made for walking after all." She added with a decidedly evil twinkle in her eyes, murmuring her thanks when Hugo held the door open for her.

Both men looked down at her heels and imagined the damage they could inflict upon certain areas of human anatomy, Snape deciding that he wouldn't give the girl the lecture he'd planned to deliver after all.

She was too dim to see logic anyway, the Slytherin assured himself.

)

Lily woke with a start, looking all around her in confusion while wondering why her ears were buzzing. Or not her ears, the Gryffindor realized when the buzzing sound decreased significantly when she sat up. Twisting around to look at her pillow it took a moment for her to process and then she was throwing aside her covers and was off her bed in a flash.

Time to see if her nightmare detector worked.

Well it had gone off anyway, which was a good sign. The device was one that had been designed during the war to act as an early warning system for Dementors. The weird gadget had been deemed pretty useless and hadn't sold well, but she'd come across one at a yard sale one day and had picked it up for the novelty of it. It was supposed to react to extremely negative…something generated by the creatures. She wasn't sure exactly what it was the device reacted to, the witch she'd bought it from had had no idea, but she had hopes that by increasing it's sensitivity it would react to a great deal of negative emotions in one place. After all, it stood to reason that if Dementors were attracted to negative emotions then there was something about people that alerted the things as to a human's emotional state. And since it was the feelings Dementors inspired that differentiated them from other evil creatures…well she'd hoped the device would react to extreme night terrors.

Or at least that was her working theory, and from the looks of things she hadn't been far off, Lily thought as she carefully closed the Slytherin's door behind her after getting a good look at Snape.

Hurrying across the floor Lily crawled into the bed with him and as before hugged him back against her, not easy to do this time as he was fighting her. He was trying to reach someone, she realized, keeping her voice low and soothing as she reassured him that everything was all right and that everyone was safe.

Years of roughhousing with brothers and cousins had trained her well, but Lily figured they'd both have a couple bruises as she struggled to keep him still.

"Lily! No, they're hurting her! Lily!"

Eyes welling up with tears of pity as she realized what he was dreaming and fighting her for, Lily swallowed hard to regulate her voice before speaking. "No, Sev. No, Sev, listen to me. Lily's safe. She's fine. She's in a place where no one can every hurt her ever again. I promise, Severus. I promise she's safe."

There was a long silence and then he spoke, his voice achingly pleading. "She's safe?"

"She's safe." Lily confirmed in the tone of voice her Gran used that indicated her word was law.

Slowly the Slytherin relaxed into her hold, turning his head to the side so that he could bury his face against the side of her neck, Lily reaching up to stroke his hair as she rocked them slightly, making comforting sounds as she sent up a mental prayer that this would be the worst of it.

Minutes later Lily was surprised when he spoke again, having assumed that he'd dropped back into sleep.

"Have to take care of her." The Slytherin murmured, Lily only able to hear his words because they were so close. "Take care of them or they'll die too. Can't fail again."

Them? Brows furrowing Lily wondered who the man was talking about. Lily had been the only one Snape had ever loved according to everyone she'd ever heard speak of the Slytherin. Could he mean her grandmother and her father? Was that it? But if that were the case then why had he said 'or they'll die too'? Who had died after her grandmother that Sev would have possibly cared about? Dumbledore and her father maybe? Her grandmother had died, and then Sev could have cared about her father because of his mother, and Dumbledore had been the only one to trust and perhaps even positively try to mentor him.

That didn't sound right though.

And having a Weasley's curiosity Lily couldn't help herself from asking. "Who do you have to protect, Sev? Who are them?"

But there was no answer from the Slytherin and she didn't push it. She didn't want him to wake up and find her in the bed with him; that would definitely not go over well. No, she'd just have to wonder and speculate, Lily decided with a small sigh of regret as she settled herself more comfortably against the headboard.

She stayed until light came through the windows and then slipped out again without disturbing him.

)

It was just before lunch the next day that a rather tired Lily looked up from her worktable to see her brother Albus entering the lab, which was surprising since he hadn't checked to make sure it was safe to enter first. But as soon as she got a look at his face she didn't have to be brilliant, though she was, to figure out that her brother was suffering from extreme sleep deprivation. Even worse than she was. He looked like hell.

The new book must not be going well, Lily thought as she stopped chopping and put her knife off to the side. "What, did you have to sleep on the couch last night? You know you could have come and stayed here like usual." It wouldn't be the first time her brother had been kicked out of his own bed, Lily thought with a small smirk of amusement.

The way her brother blinked at her question said plainly he was so tired that he had to think for a moment to understand what she was asking. Albus was one of those people who did not function well without sleep, though this was pretty bad, even for him.

"I should have slept on the couch." Albus informed his sister, putting his hand in front of his mouth to muffle a yawn as he stumbled over to her, holding out a hand to indicate she shouldn't come any closer to him when she moved to meet him. "And for your sake I'll get straight to the point of my visit since I'm one of those lucky people currently living with someone who has that stupid cold that's going around. Not to mention the fact that if I give it to you you won't be able to babysit the kids for me once they're out of school today which is the purpose of me being here to throw myself on your mercy. Could you take them for a couple days? If not say so now and I'll go ask the in laws to take them. You know Mum's sick too, right?"

"Wow, so you're saying that if I don't take them I'm dooming them to spend two whole days with your evil in laws?" Lily laughed as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Talk about blackmailing me. Though they are old, so maybe they'd get the cold and kick the bucket as a result." Lily grinned at the look her brother aimed in her direction. "What? One should always look for a silver lining in all situations."

"That's a silver lining in your book, not mine. And the kids would be in school and sleeping for some of those two days so it wouldn't be that bad." Albus drawled out, placing a hand on her work bench since he was ready to keel. He was pretty damn sure he was starting to get the cold too which was almost as depressing as the idea of spending the next couple days playing nursemaid. This was going to be such a great week, was the Gryffindor's dark humor thought before he turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "I know you have Snape and Hugo to deal with, you can say no if you want. I just figured you'd be the best bet since you're one of those annoying people who never gets sick for some reason. Hugo's not around enough to get it and if the Slytherin gets sick…he'll be stuck in bed for a couple days and will be out of your hair."

She did indeed have a kick ass immune system. "You're assuming I'm heartless enough not to take care of him."

"Do you really think someone like my second namesake would let you baby him?"

Good point, she silently acknowledged. And okay, she was evil enough to want to see what Snape was like around kids. Hugo had pretty much won the cranky Slytherin over and it would be interesting to see if her nieces and nephew could do the same. Besides, she loved having the little rug rats over, especially since she'd be able to work while they were at school.

"I'll pick them up from school, Bro, no worries."

Albus's sigh of relief could probably be heard all the way to the house.

"Did you bring stuff for them?" Lily asked, trusting that her brother knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't say no.

"I put their bags in the front hall before coming out here." Albus admitted with a charming, sleepy grin. "Thanks, sincerely. I wouldn't have been able to handle four sick children, I'm just not that tough. Fighting Death Eaters would be easier."

"Okay, Bro, you're losing it. You only have three children."

The sound the Gryffindor made couldn't be called a laugh, but the expressive eye roll said it all.

"You've obviously never seen my darling spouse sick before. I said and meant four."

Lily's laughter followed him out of the lab as he waved good bye.

)

As soon as Snape saw the gleam in her eyes he knew a horror and trepidation he'd rarely felt even when he'd been playing both sides during the war. This was not going to end well for him, the Slytherin thought as he forced himself to meet Lily's eyes without flinching or running away like a little girl. He was a man and if necessary he'd…he'd arrange for her to have a little potion's accident that would keep her bedridden for a couple weeks. At least. She apparently had such accidents all the time, he'd definitely get away with it. But then Hugo would worry about her, a little voice in his head pointed out, but Snape squashed that thought like it was an annoying insect.

At times like this it was every man for himself.

"Sev." Lily all but sang, sensing that he wanted to bolt like a mouse spotting a cat. "Guess what?"

"They've finally realized you should be institutionalized for the safety of the Wizarding World?"

"No…they haven't figured that out yet. Or if they have they're keeping it to themselves so my brothers don't beat them up." Was her cheerful response. "Guess again."

Snape crossed his arms in front of him. "No." It would only encourage her.

Lily pretended to pout and then gave him a big, beaming smile designed to make every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "We're going to be babysitting three kids for the next couple of days. Isn't that great?"

"I assume you hate these children and wish me to brutally scar them for life?"

"Given their names they're probably already scarred for life but if you want to try and make it worse…well I'm sort of obligated to stop you. Which could be fun too, depending on how I go about doing that."

The way she wiggled her eyebrows at him had Snape fighting the urge to flush.

Damn her.


	11. Back To School

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Back To School

The large building was one that hadn't been around when he'd been a child, but his mother had homeschooled him so his formal education hadn't begun until his first term at Hogwarts. Following Lily into the building Snape mentally cursed his present situation, though he kept his thoughts to himself since he wasn't so ill mannered as to swear at the woman while there were young children nearby. Though given how fast his students had seemed to age when he'd still taught Snape supposed he'd be naïve to assume that the various children they passed weren't already far more mature than his peers had been at that age.

That he was here because Lily wanted to make sure that he would know where her nieces and nephew's classrooms were in the event that he had to pick up or drop them off by himself made the whole thing that much worse. But the evil witch had bribed him with her chicken pot pie and a promise that she'd keep the brats away from him for the rest of the day if he came with her.

The things he had to do to get a little peace and quiet.

Of course that was something that was ALWAYS in short supply at Lily Potter's house.

"So Honey and Bunny are in the same class so you won't have any problem finding them. Well that and everyone knows Bunny so worst comes to worse you could probably ask anyone here and they'd be able to point you in the right direction." And easily reading the man's expression Lily grinned. "No, those aren't their real names, but Bunny decided when she was three that she wanted to be called Bunny and she won't answer to anything else unless seriously bribed. And Honey…well if I had her first name I'd go by a nickname too. Though knowing you, I guess you can just call her Jay. It's a short form for Jemima."

He knew about the one girl, Hogwarts had been abuzz when the Chosen One's son had adopted her, but the other two were unknown to him.

Arriving at their destination with much weaving and pausing to make way for the various little people around them, Snape didn't have to wonder which of the children was Bunny. It was pretty damn obvious, even to him, why the girl had chosen such a ridiculous nickname for herself.

The girl loved rabbits.

In appearance the little girl reminded him of Shirley Temple, complete with the dirty blonde curls, dimples, and the wide smile the former child actress had been known for. The girl's love of rabbits was more than apparent in the fact that the girl was wearing overalls with a rabbit on the front pocket, her backpack was shaped like a rabbit, and the hat the girl wore on her head had bunny ears attached to it.

At the girl's side was a rather mousey looking thing, quietly pretty and obviously with Bunny though lacking the girl's sparkle. Honey, perhaps?

His guess was proved correct when Bunny spotted them and automatically grabbed the other girl's hand, heading for them with a single minded focus that soon had the two children standing in front of them, Bunny looking at him with obvious interest while the other girl shyly hung back and stared at her feet.

"Are you Aunt Lily's boyfriend?"

While Snape stared at her niece with obvious horror, which was a little annoying, Lily answered Bunny's question. "No, he's my latest assistant. I just wanted him to know where your classroom was in case I need him to come get you instead. Did your teacher tell you two that you'll be staying with me for a bit?"

Bunny nodded her head before turning her attention back to Severus. "Aunt Lily blows her assistants up, Papa says. Has she blown you up yet?"

"Unfortunately no." Severus's drawled out in response.

"You should be Aunt Lily's boyfriend if you like being blown up." Was Bunny opinion on the matter. "I'm Bunny and this is my sister Honey. Together we're Honey Bunny, get it? We're six years old. What's your name? Are you staying at Aunt Lily's house with us and Uncle Hugo?"

"Do you always talk so much?"

"Yes."

Snape's eyes shifted over to look at the other little girl, deciding that she was already his favorite of Albus Potter's children. Which wasn't saying much, but at least this one probably wouldn't make him long to return to his grave the way Lily and her other niece were likely to do on a regular basis.

Shaking her head Lily introduced the two girls to Snape properly, not surprised that Bunny took to him right away while Honey hung back, shyly greeting the Slytherin before going silent again. Honey didn't take to people fast, and it would be a while before she'd speak up instead of letting Bunny do all the talking for them.

Introductions made, the redhead smiled and asked the girls if they had everything, which they did. That confirmed she announced that they needed to head out so that they could pick up their brother before he started wondering what was keeping them. Taking Honey's hand Lily wisely didn't comment when Bunny took her sister's hand in her right and slipped her left into Snape's before the man had time to anticipate the move.

Jerking in surprise Snape stared down at the little hand in his own, shocked by how small and frail it felt. He'd never held the hand of someone so young, he'd never been the hand holding type even if there'd been someone who would want to hold his.

It occurred to the Slytherin that they must look like a family, two parents come to take their daughters home from school. Not that the girls in any way resembled them, but at first glance the mistake could probably be made.

The thought was so strange and disturbing that Snape was quiet and barely noticed what was going on until he realized that they'd stepped out of the building without retrieving the final Potter child. "What about the boy?"

"The boy doesn't attend this school." Lily informed him with a mischievous smile. "Riley is in high school."

"High school?" Snape repeated in confusion. "Why would he…if he's that old he should be at Hogwarts."

"Riley can't go to Hogwarts, Silly." Bunny told the man with the lovely voice. "He's a Muggle. Muggles can't do magic."

)

Snape was still reeling from the revelation minutes later when they were walking down a regular Muggle street after Lily had used magic to transport them to a dead end alley tucked behind a building near the school. The girls were obviously familiar with where they were going so Snape remained silent and let them lead the way, Bunny's hand still tucked in his as she talked a mile a minute about everything she and Honey had done in school that day. He wasn't listening of course, he was too busy wondering how there had come to be a Muggle in the Potter family. Not that the family would discriminate against a Muggle, Arthur Weasley was probably thrilled beyond words, but deliberately having a lone Muggle in a family of witches and wizards was definitely abnormal.

And that was most definitely a Muggle high school they were approaching, Snape noted, wincing a little as he got a look at what the teenagers were wearing as they eagerly vacated the school grounds. Damn, and he'd thought the Muggle fashions of his teens and twenties had been horrible. What were the girls thinking, dressing like that in public? It was like the two sexes were trying to be polar opposites of each other. The girls were trying to wear the most revealing and tight clothes they were allowed while the boys favored the baggy, shapeless look. Of course there were a few sane individuals who'd found a happy medium, but they were the obvious exceptions to the fashion rules.

As they made their way through the crowd the former teacher wasn't surprised to see that while some things changed a lot hadn't. The snippets of conversation he overheard concerned various forms of entertainment, who was the best looking and most desirable, and of course the expected jokes and verbal abusing of those they considered their inferiors.

Damn but he'd hated being a teenager.

He also couldn't help but notice the looks Lily was getting from the teenage males. Glancing over he could see the appeal, her being an older woman and one who not only had curves but flaunted them. A nice change from the constantly on a diet sticks the teenage boys were used to seeing on a daily basis if what he'd seen so far was any indication.

Still, that didn't excuse their leering and Snape gave harsh looks to a few of the bolder ones.

"Man, I loved you in Die Hard. You were the shit."

Turning his head Snape looked at the acned teenage boy who had spoken, his nose picking up on a scent that definitely reminded him of his teenage summers trying to stay away from the neighborhood Muggle boys since he wasn't allowed to curse them.

Marijuana.

"Alec, that's obviously not Alan Rickman." Another teenager told his friend, obviously not as baked. "I mean that guy's gotta be, like, ancient by now."

"It could be, I mean think how much dough that guy had to make. He could afford all the plastic surgery he could want."

Snape's eyes narrowed as he gave them a look that any student would recognize as the glare of a teacher who took a great deal of pleasure in making their students as miserable as they were. "I suggest you both leave before you require extensive plastic surgery to undo the damage I'll do to your person if you don't leave my presence immediately."

The boys scrammed like rats fleeing a ship.

"Awww, Sev, you're such a people person."

Before Snape could remind her for the millionth time that he didn't want her to call him by that nickname the former potions teacher was interrupted by Bunny loudly proclaiming that she had spotted her older brother.

Interest piqued in spite of himself Snape turned his gaze from Lily to follow the girls as they let go of his and Lily's hands so that they could race over to where their brother was. Watching them the Slytherin couldn't help but gape with shock when he got a look at the slim teenager who had bent down with arms open so that the girls could throw themselves into them.

The boy was, without question, the most beautiful person Snape could ever recall laying eyes on. He was one hundred percent heterosexual, and had never had the slightest inclination to experiment in that area, but he couldn't help but be a little blown away by the absolute perfection of the teenage boy's face.

"It takes some getting used to." Lily murmured, understanding completely his reaction. Riley's face was perfectly symmetrical and shaped, the stunningly beautiful blue grey eyes framed with dark lashes that were at odds with the teenager's shoulder length white blonde hair. More than one person in the Wizarding community had suggested that Riley could put a Veela to shame even though he lacked their magical enticements.

And since she'd forgotten to give the Slytherin some much needed explanations Lily hastened to do so before her nieces and nephew made their way over to them. "Riley isn't going to like or trust you at first, particularly around the girls. Don't take it personally. He was in an abusive home before he was put into foster care when he was thirteen. He's very over protective of the girls and me a little bit, so try to keep the really mean stuff to a minimum until they go back home, kay?"

"Got it." Though he wouldn't have needed the information, not now that he could see the boy's eyes, Snape thought as the three children approached them. He knew the look in those eyes, the guarded defensiveness of someone who was more surprised by kindness than violence. The eyes of someone who expected the worst in people and was rarely proven wrong.

As a boy he'd seen that look plenty in the mirror before he'd learned to hide even that.

Snape watched the boy take his measure, not taking the slightest offense in the way the teenager was sizing him up. If he'd had siblings he would have been just as protective of them.

"Riley, this is Mr. Prince, he's my latest assistant. Severus, this is my nephew Riley."

Lily did her best not to smile as the two men nodded at each other, though inwardly she was surprised that Snape was being this…well cordial where Riley was concerned. She'd figured that he wouldn't be too bad around the girls since they were really young but Riley was a teenager, old enough to have been one of the Slytherin's students once upon a time. Plus her nephew's looks often put the backs up of most men who didn't like the fact that their girls regularly threw themselves at Riley.

The fact that Riley tended to get a reaction out of straight guys didn't help his popularity there either.

But they were sharing this look of male understanding that she just hadn't-

Oh.

Looking between the two Lily could feel a whole box's worth of light bulbs go on over her head.

Sev's childhood had been just as bad as Riley's.

She wouldn't have to worry about the Slytherin being around the teenager in the slightest.

"So they're both sick now?" Riley asked, turning his attention to Lily as he gave her a questioning look. He would have rather have stayed home and just taken care of the girls and their parents, but he wasn't surprised that they'd been shipped off to stay with someone else. He was a little surprised that they'd ended up in Lily's care, she normally wasn't someone people were comfortable trusting their children with for long stretches of time. The new assistant must be a pretty mature and reliable guy, Riley decided, for his adoptive parents to trust that he'd keep Lily from experimenting on them.

"Yup. Or at least my darling brother was looking well on his way when he dropped off your stuff." And knowing how Riley's mind worked Lily gave the boy a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I'll pop over there a few times to check on them and make sure they're still kicking. And I won't play with anything remotely explosive while you guys are with me."

The look the children gave their aunt indicated they weren't buying that last part.

"Okay, Guys, let's head out." Lily announced brightly. "We'll get ice cream, my treat."

)

When they finally arrived at Lily's house forty minutes later Snape was worn out and ready to curse something. "Have Muggles gotten that much stupider since I last had to interact with them?" The Slytherin demanded to know as they walked up the path leading to the house. "I mean honestly, how could seven different people come up and mistaken these children as ours? They don't look a thing like us. I mean honestly, that woman thinking the boy was my son had to be completely lacking in anything remotely resembling a brain."

"Maybe she just figured that with your looks your first wife was as hot as I am." Lily offered up, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at the older man. "She did give me the 'trophy wife' sneer."

"What's a trophy wife?" Bunny wanted to know.

"It's a woman married for her looks." Riley explained, thinking that was the nicest way to put it.

"Oh." The little girl considered this. 'Well Aunt Lily is awfully pretty."

Honey nodded in agreement.

Thanking the girls for the compliment Lily wasn't the least insulted that a number of people had felt the need to compliment her and Sev on their adorable 'children'. It wasn't the first time she'd been mistaken for the girls' mother and frankly she much preferred Sev being mistaken for her husband as opposed to her brother. Now that was cause for serious discomfort.

Regardless of where they were Bunny's exuberance and Riley's looks tended to draw attention to them, the former eating up the attention with a spoon. And since Honey was always with Bunny people fussed over her too, finding her shyness terribly cute and endearing.

At the end of the day, so long as people were nice to them, Lily didn't figure the attention and parental misunderstandings were that big a deal.

"You could have helped me correct them instead of pretending you were my wife, you know."

Lily grinned as she turned her attention back to Severus. "Now why would I have wanted to do that? I took it as a compliment."

This gave the Slytherin pause as he wasn't at all used to women thinking it would be a compliment to be mistaken for his. Of course she probably only saw it as a compliment because he currently looked like that Rickman character, but still…it was pleasant to know that she wasn't insulted that people had mistaken her for his wife.

Wait…no…that was bad, Snape told himself, frowning over where his thoughts were taking him. He should hate the idea that anyone thought that the two of them could ever be a couple. That he'd ever be remotely interested in…but he wasn't. And he would acknowledge that Potter's youngest wasn't displeasing looks wise, so it wasn't all that strange that he would be pleased that strangers, who had no idea how twisted and weird she was, would think she belonged to him.

And thinking about this was making his head hurt.

Sensing that he was about to reach his limit Lily figured it would probably be for the best if she gave the Slytherin a little breather. "Sev, why don't you head to the lab and work on your portrait project while I see that these guys get their homework done before suppertime. Sound good to you?"

Lily wasn't surprised when the man got out of there so fast it was a wonder he didn't give them all whiplash.


	12. Little Bunny Foo Foo

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Snape remained in the lab until Lily sent him a message indicating that he needed to come in because Hugo was now home and they were going to be eating dinner shortly. Hungry and hoping desperately that the kids would be so busily stuffing their faces to talk the Slytherin cleaned up and then headed for the house. At least Hugo would be there, Snape reminded himself, trying to improve his mood, one relatively sane person who could also run interference for him. And that Riley kid had seemed normal enough.

When he let himself in Snape took one look at Bunny, who was hopping around the kitchen while talking a mile a minute, and shook his head, speaking without thinking. "Bunny really does suit her. She's even more annoying than Little Bunny Foo Foo."

Stopping in her tracks the girl's attention was immediately on him. "Who's Little Bunny Foo Foo?"

Instantly realizing the folly of his words Snape mentally cursed a blue streak. "No one."

Not buying that for a minute Bunny ran over to Snape's side, wrapping her little arms around his leg as she looked up at him pleadingly, begging him to tell her who Little Bunny Foo Foo was. And he tried, oh how he tried to shake her off, but she just moved with him when he walked over to Lily, demanding that she remove the child from his leg.

Lips twitching, Lily was only just able not to grin at the picture the two made. "Just tell her who you were talking about and she'll let you go. Is this rabbit from an old Muggle television show or something? It sounds sort of familiar."

"It's a song or poem. I can't remember which. And I don't remember it well so I can't tell you how it goes even if I wanted to." He informed Bunny, who gave him a stubborn, 'yes you do' look. And she was right, he actually did remember the song really well having been taught it by the grandmother of the redhead who obviously found his present circumstances so very amusing. But there was no way in hell he was going to sing the damn thing. Just no friggin way. He'd let Lily experiment on him first.

"What's going on?" Riley asked as he came into the room with Honey perched on his hip, having picked up on the fact that his aunt's newest assistant wasn't terribly fond of children and therefore probably didn't like Bunny hanging off of him.

"Riley, do you know who Little Bunny Foo Foo is?" Not about to let Snape go just yet Bunny sent her wise and all knowing big brother a questioning look. It was a massive understatement to say she was disappointed when he couldn't tell her about the bunny. She loved songs about bunnies and the man wasn't willing to sing it for her, which she thought was very mean of him.

And she told him so.

"I've been called a lot worse." Snape informed her, not about to admit that she'd been a little successful in making him feel guilty.

"You should ask Uncle Hugo." Riley suggested, distracting his sister from her pout. "I'm sure that he knows or could find out."

Hugo was called into the kitchen too and as it turned out the young man did indeed know the 'Little Bunny Foo Foo' song. In fact, Hugo knew several variations of it but chose the simplest one to sing for Bunny who immediately raced over to her now favorite uncle to convince him to sing it over and over again to her so that she could learn it too.

Cursing the fact that he'd brought this all on himself Snape looked over at Lily with a pleading look in his eyes. "Kill me now."

"Do you want to eat your chicken pot pie first?"

"Do I have to eat it with them?"

"Yes."

Snape had to think about it for a moment before he decided that yes, he wanted to eat her chicken pot pie first.

)

Dinner could have been a lot worse, thankfully Lily was an awesome cook and the kids were eager to stuff themselves since both their parents were merely adequate in the kitchen. That didn't stop Bunny from talking non-stop while she picked out each slice of carrot from her chicken pie with a fork and then eating them before she ate the rest since she was a rabbit and rabbits liked carrots best. Honey didn't talk at all unless spoken to and Riley wisely left Snape alone and only talked to his family members. It was during dessert that Bunny announced that she wanted to play Little Bunny Foo Foo after dinner was over. Honey would be the Good Fairy, which meant she would be needing mice to bop on the head.

The little girl looked pointedly at those not already assigned a role.

Snape sent Lily a look that promised untold horrors if she didn't get him out of this.

"We can dress up some round pillows to make them look like mice." Lily suggested, there being no way in hell she was going to allow giant mice to be conjured up in her house. "That way you can bop them on their heads as many times as you want."

This was acceptable to Bunny, who found the idea of decorating the pillows to look like mice to be a great idea.

"Did my Daddy pack me a fairy dress?" Honey asked quietly, also wanting to play the game her sister had devised.

Lily didn't think she'd seen a dress that was fairy-like in the girl's bag but she promised she'd find something suitable for the girl to wear so that she'd look like a real one.

So after dinner the men were charged with helping the girls decorate pillows while Lily went up to search her own wardrobe for something that Honey could wear for her costume since her brother hadn't packed an dress for either little girl that was fair enough. Snape of course didn't want to help but Hugo roped him into it, convincing the Slytherin that he wouldn't be shaming his bad ass genes if all he did was keep his eyes on Honey and Bunny. Since Bunny had a hat with bunny ears she was already ready for her role and she and her sister were just practicing the song.

Still, Snape was seriously glad when Lily reentered the room up until he saw what she held out to Honey for the girl to wear as a costume. At a distance it probably would look like a child's summer dress, but up close it was obviously a woman's sky blue camisole. And using his brilliant brain to do some quick figuring Snape very shortly had a good idea of just what Lily would look like wearing it. And how little it would probably cover given the size of her breasts.

Oh bugger. Why him?

Thankfully Lily didn't seem to notice as she helped Honey put the camisole over her clothes and then stepped back to let the girls play their new game.

Taking a seat beside Snape Lily smiled up at him, completely unaware of the fact that she was only adding insult to the injury. "Normally I'd say that you owe me for saving you from spending a couple hours being bopped on the head…but you've suffered enough I think."

"You have no idea."

She really didn't, Lily thought as she patted his hand in sympathy. She'd been the youngest so she'd never been an only child. And even if she had been she had so many cousins that she had never been alone unless she wanted to be. Suffering certainly wasn't the word she'd use when it came to playing with her family, but she had been self-aware enough at times to sense that she drove the older members of her generation a little nuts sometimes.

She'd been blowing things up for a very long time.

"I'm going to my room." Being this close to her was suddenly downright torturous, especially when she smelled like her chicken pot pie. He really had a thing for her chicken pot pie.

"I'll miss you terribly while you're gone." She assured him, grinning as she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Once again he couldn't get out of there fast enough.

)

It was really a good thing that she'd already figured out that it would be a bad idea to start something with Sev, Lily thought hours later. After all, even if he weren't technically dead and old enough to be her grandfather, he didn't even like kids. How could she get seriously interested about a guy who didn't like kids? Her need for chaos demanded that she have at least four herself and if she got hung up on her sexy Slytherin then that definitely wouldn't happen. The fact that thus far her house guest was the only man to really fascinate and challenge her, much less seem to sorta get her, was aggravating as hell but she was still young. There had to be other handsome, sexy potion masters out there who might think she was a little nuts but still stick around. Of course Sev was only still around because it was stay with her or her parents but he could have offed himself if he really wanted to. She didn't doubt the man had the balls to kill himself.

And why was she even thinking about this again?

It was having the girls and Riley around, it had gotten her thinking about families and how she envied her brothers theirs. She wanted the big family of her very own, though she was really too young to be having biological clock issues. It was probably just temporary, a combination of having a hot guy not related to her in her house along with the kids. But it sure had been cute, Lily thought as she let herself into her bedroom, watching Riley do up Bunny's hair in rags so that it would be curled for the next day. And watching them interact with their parents' patronuses had reduced her to a pile of goo, listening to the misty animals wish the children good night, both sounding like their raspy, sick voices would go at any second. Tucking them in had pretty much finished her off, seeing all three of them under the covers on the couch she owned that converted in a large, king sized bed that was just big enough for one thin teenager and two little girls.

Honey wouldn't sleep without her brother when they weren't at home. She had serious separation issues that her family was still working on.

And since she was holding it already Lily decided she'd wear the blue camisole to bed, adding short cotton shorts to the ensemble to cover her lower half. That done she stashed her clothes in her hamper and then pondered what she was going to do with herself. She was too awake to go to sleep, but she didn't feel like doing anything in particular. Maybe she should have a bath instead?

Turning her head at the sound of a knock at her door Lily raised an eyebrow and walked over to open it, a grin naturally breaking out over her face at the unexpected visitor. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Slytherin?"

Okay, he'd underestimated how big her breasts were, was all Snape could think as he forgot all about why he was knocking on her door in the first place. The lace at the bottom of her camisole skimmed over her belly button as opposed to just covering it. And she wasn't wearing a bra this time which made her assets that much more apparent and wow, was she ever stacked.

She was used to having her breasts stared at, men were stupid when it came to ones of her size, but she couldn't help but squirm a little over the fact that it was Sev doing the looking. He wasn't the type to let his hormones get the best of him so he must really like what he was looking at to be struck dumb by them. Then again, the guy had gone without sex for what was probably a really long time. To think it was just her was probably her considerable ego talking, Lily reminded herself. Which didn't change the fact that she was getting more than little hot and bothered under his gaze but hey, she was only human.

And knowing how pissed off he'd be over this later Lily decided she was going to have to be the grown up and put their conversation back on course. "Sev? Did you need something?"

Both simultaneously thought that she really could have phrased that better.

Looking over her shoulder since he didn't want to meet her gaze Snape's voice was edged with cool indifference. "It didn't occur to me earlier that my sleeping in your guestroom would require the children to sleep downstairs."

Understanding dawning Lily smiled. "No worries, Sev, the couch converts to a bed and they're as snug as bugs under a rug down there. Even if the guestroom was available they'd still pick the couch bed so that they could be together. Riley wouldn't stand to be separated from them with you in the house and Honey wouldn't like it either. Sleep easy, they're not sleeping on the floor of anything like that because you're here."

"Was the quiet one abused at her last home too?" He refused to call the girl Honey, it just wasn't happening.

Lily shook her head. "No. She just likes Riley to be with her as much as possible. Her parents were killed in a car accident last year and she was put into the same foster home as Riley. He took care of her and when they decided to transfer Riley to another home because he was getting too old for the foster parents he'd been with…well Honey freaked and as a result made it clear that she was a Muggleborn. The usual guys were called in to deal with the situation and one of them is a friend of my brother's. When he learned of the situation…well he knew that Bunny had been asking for a big brother for Christmas and he saw how good Riley was with Honey. He knew that there was no way Riley and Honey would be allowed to stay together, and she was the same age as Bunny so he clued Al in and asked how he'd feel about taking both of them despite Riley's lack of magic. The rest as they say is history."

"One would think that your brother's in laws would have a lot to say about having a Muggle introduced into the family."

"Oh they did. But Bunny loves him and she's pretty much got them all wrapped around her little finger. It's pretty fun to watch. My dad and Uncle Ron think it's the most hilarious thing ever."

It was a damn good thing that Bunny was their actual flesh and blood, Snape mused, otherwise things could have gotten very ugly. As it was the girl wasn't a blood relation on the patriarchy side, so the fact that she'd been able to manipulate the men in that family to accept Riley suggested that the men had either gotten very senile in their old age or Bunny had refused to shut up until her new siblings were accepted into the family.

He was leaning towards the latter explanation.

"I see." He wanted to ask about Riley too, but didn't because he knew how he'd feel in the boy's place, not wanting others to know his personal business. He'd done everything in his power to hide his own abuse because the pity and looks he would have gotten from those around him would have just made his situation that much more unbearable. He'd hated seeing the pity and compassion in his Lily's eyes when he was a boy, even as he'd basked in the fact that she'd cared enough to feel them for him.

Far too often he'd wondered if it was those feelings that had kept her at his side as long as she had.

The woman watching him with soft, warm brown eyes probably knew too much about his past too. Her father would have told her the things he'd seen both during that damn occlumency lesson and in the memories he'd given Potter before he'd died.

"Do I want to know what you're thinking?"

"No. And I'm going now."

"Well all right then, be all dark and mysterious. It goes with your new look anyway." Sensing that the man was once again lost in his thoughts, this time about whatever had made his shields fall down over his eyes to hide those thoughts from her, Lily took a step forward and bracing her hands on his shoulders got up on her tip toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Sev. Sweet dreams."

Drawing her head back Lily instinctively met the man's gaze, air deserting her lungs as she stared into them as she became aware of how close she was to him.

And that he was just as aware of her as she was of him.

They remained frozen there together for several heartbeats, both unable to break eye contact as they tried to get their brains to kick back into gear and remind their hormones of who was the boss. And when their brains did finally register how dangerous their present situation was to their personal well beings they both took a step away from the other, Snape leaving the room without a word seconds later.

Lily couldn't have said how long she stood where he had left her, torn between being relieved…and wishing he'd come back.


	13. In His Nature

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

In His Nature

In the dream Snape found himself in the hallway outside Lily's door, having just left it. Intellectually he'd known he had to get out of there before he did something incredibly stupid, but damn if his hormones had liked his decision one little bit. And as much as he tried to rationalize his reaction by pointing out to himself that it was as depressing as Moaning Myrtle, how long it had been since he'd genuinely been attracted to a woman, much less one of Lily Potter's appeal, it didn't work because damn if she wasn't appealing, especially when she was struck dumb and wasn't talking. If she resembled her grandmother in any real way it would be sick, the reaction he had to her physically, but she bore very little resemblance to the girl he'd love most of his life both physically and personality wise.

So he had been telling himself, at weak moments such as this, that it was alright for him to feel this way so long as he didn't act on them.

He'd roll in his own grave if he ever so much as seriously snogged a Potter.

But on some level he knew he was dreaming, and it was the safety of that knowledge that had the Slytherin glancing back in the direction of her door, mentally telling himself that there was no harm in just imagining what he wanted to do with her so long as his interest remained inside his dreamscape. Who could blame him?

Other than himself, Snape thought, mentally berating himself for even desiring this much. Why now? Why this particular woman? You'd think his hormones would have more sense. Or at the very least his heart would rebel against the idea of him truly wanting any woman other than his childhood Lily.

But there was a treacherous little voice in his head that whispered the fact that perhaps if Lily Potter had been alive when he had been maybe he would have been able to let go of his feelings for Lily Evans.

And it really, really didn't help matters that she occasionally let it be known that she was aware of him as a man, he inwardly groused. That she found him attractive and might actually be interested in him as a man and not because she sought to gain something by associating with him really messed with his head. And even more than that, if he was being honest, one of the things about her that really got to him was that she knew all or most of his sins and they didn't matter to her. She neither judged him nor heaped pity on him. She simply let him be himself and gave his a quick kick in the ass when she thought it was called for.

She was, in short, one hell of a woman.

Unable to stay where he was with these thoughts running around in his subconscious, Snape whirled around on his heels and marched over to her door, opening it this time without permission as he swept into the room.

Lily stood where he left her, dressed in that skimpy camisole and short black shorts, and dammit, he was only human.

Moving forward he pulled her into his arms, dove his fingers into her red hair, and lowered his head to press his lips against hers in a heated kiss that quickly upped to a raging inferno as he was eagerly snogged back.

In his mind the Slytherin told himself that seriously kissing Lily wouldn't be this good, that she wouldn't taste so hot and forbidden and eager, but that annoying little voice again whispered that if only he dared to try this in real life, the kisses would be even sweeter.

)

Waking up that morning Snape couldn't recall ever once, in all his years, being woken up due to a small child bouncing up and down on her knees while demanding that he wake up and pay attention to her. Eyes opening to half mast the Slytherin took in the bunny pajamas, bouncing curls, and decided that going back to sleep was the best way to handle the situation. Unfortunately the girl wasn't going for that and finally Snape gave up trying to ignore her, giving her a dark look that had been known to freeze the blood of trained killers as he demanded to know what she wanted.

"Guess what, guess what!"

"Unless someone's dead or dying I could care less."

Bunny's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "You gots to guess, Mr. Prince!"

Snape sat up and studied her for a moment, eyes drawn to the bedroom doorway where Honey was half hidden with an anxious look on her little face as she peeped out at him. And it was that that had the Slytherin mentally cursing a blue streak before he turned his attention back to the impatient girl kneeling at his side, sarcasm lacing every syllable he spoke. "Fine. I'll bite. What's your big news?"

The little girl's eyes went huge. "You're gonna bite me?"

"Merlin save me." Closing his eyes as he silently applauded the cruelty of fate, Snape forced himself to speak in short, easy to understand sentences. "No. I'm not going to bite you. It's an expression. Just tell me why you're bothering me already so that you'll leave me alone."

"Oh." Bunny considered this and was glad that he wasn't going to bite her. That would hurt. "But you didn't guess."

"Given your Slytherin heritage one would think you'd have better self preservation instincts. Where's Riley, anyway?" Wasn't the teenager supposed to be anal about taking care of the girls?

"He's having a shower."

Just his luck. "Fine then, I guess that you've come to tell me that you've been voted the most annoying child in this household. Congratulations."

The little girl sighed and shook her head at him, blonde curls flying with the gesture. "You're not real good with kids, are you, Mr. Prince?"

Now there was a massive understatement. "Just state your business or leave."

Mood brightening a little at the reminder of her big news Bunny leaned forward and used her tongue to demonstrate to the man that one of her teeth was loose. "It's gonna come out and I'm gonna put it under my pillow and then the tooth fairy is gonna come and take it and give me money!"

Since he didn't want to have to deal with the fallout Snape resisted the urge to inform the girl that there was no such thing as the tooth fairy and that it was all a lie concocted by adults for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom. Still, the girl had woken him up unnecessarily, and the sooner she learned to give him a wide berth the better. Not to mention the fact that he girl was probably spoiled enough at home without her getting money for a natural, biological function. "Here's hoping then, that the fairy knows where to find you since you aren't at home."

Eyes going as big as dinner plates at the idea Bunny stared at him in stunned shock for a moment before getting off the bed in record time, already calling for Lily as she ran out of the room with Honey at her heels.

"Ahhhh. Much better."

Snuggling back under his covers Snape was just starting to drift back to sleep when he sensed someone coming into the room, the annoyed tapping of a foot on the hardwood floor confirming it. And recognizing who was sending him the killer glare even without opening his eyes the Slytherin debated ignoring her before deciding there was little point in trying.

Lily was even more persistent and annoying than Bunny after all.

"I could have been worse, you have to admit."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punish you severely."

Opening one eye Snape took in the fact that she was still wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing the night before and immediately closed it again, trying not to recall the vague memories he had of his dreams from the night before. He had the uncomfortable feeling she might have had a starring role in them, which was just too horrifying for him to face this early in the morning. But still…

"Seeing you is punishment enough."

Her annoyance came through loud and clear. "Sleep in then. I'll get the kids fed and off to school and then, when I get back, you and I are going to spend some quality time together. Make your own breakfast too!"

And threat issued Lily left the room, deliberately slamming the door behind her.

Once she was gone Snape mentally debated staying in bed or heading down for breakfast, not wanting to deal with the children but not wanting to miss out on breakfast either. She'd promised the kids pancakes last night. He wanted pancakes too. And if he waited until after the kids left all the pancakes would probably be gone and he'd be stuck with the disgusting sugary cereal Hugo sometimes ate or something simple like toast or fruit. Of course there was always the chance that if he went down she might refuse to let him have any pancakes just to be mean, but Hugo would back him up.

Damn. He really wanted pancakes.

The woman had gotten him through his stomach, Snape thought with a resigned sigh, having already figured this out. He should have seen it coming. He'd just never had anyone cook for him because they wanted to before. It had gone to his head before he'd seen it coming.

Which probably meant that he should stay in bed to try and make a point to himself and to her, but Snape found himself getting out of bed in spite of himself. After all, if he faced the music now she wouldn't have more time to formulate a really evil revenge.

She was a Potter AND a Weasley after all. They were good at that sort of thing.

)

The doorbell went off when they were halfway through breakfast, Lily requesting that Snape go and see who it was since she was busy making more pancakes and she figured that he deserved to have his meal interrupted. Besides, the kids had to finish eating or they were going to be leaving late, which would not be a good thing. She could see that the Slytherin wasn't thrilled to be drafted, but he knew he was in the doghouse currently so he didn't object but pushed back his chair and headed out to deal with their visitor.

"I'm gonna make sure he isn't mean to whoever is here." Bunny announced, sliding out of her own chair to follow the man out of the room.

Lily opened her mouth to call her niece back and then closed it, deciding Bunny's presence couldn't hurt. And when she heard the little girl squeal 'Alex' in obvious delight Lily shared a look with Hugo, who'd been anxious about his next encounter with the Slytherin. He had nothing to worry about now, with Bunny around.

Dolohov loved Bunny and vice versa.

Most of the time she forgot that the two were related, she thought of Bunny as her brother's daughter after all, but at times like this Lily was reminded of the fact that had things ended up differently Bunny would have been born a Dolohov.

A Dolohov named Bunny. It was a wonder the Dolohov family crypt hadn't simultaneously combusted the day the little girl had decided that that was what she wanted to be called.

When the two Slytherin men came into the kitchen Bunny was perched on Alexei's hip, the girl very pleased to be there as she unnecessarily announced that her Alex was here and that he needed pancakes too.

"That's not necessary." Alexei informed Lily stiffly, though everyone noticed the way he was eyeing the half eaten pancakes on a number of plates.

"You gots to eat breakfast, Alex. It's the most important meal of the day." Bunny's tone was no nonsense. She liked to think of herself as Alexei's aunt since technically she was his daddy's cousin even though he was old and she was still little. It was so funny to have such an old nephew, but she liked being able to say that he was hers. No one else in her class could say that they had a nephew after all.

So in short order a chair was retrieved for Alexei and the Slytherin found himself eating at the table with the others.

Manners had him acknowledging the other adults in the room, his greetings for Riley and Honey slightly warmer in tone. Though it was weird for someone like him to be on a first name basis with a Muggleborn and Muggle Alexei and their blond parent had been close since they were children, and unlike the rest of his immediate family he made the effort to keep somewhat regular contact with Bunny since she would be a Dolohov if his stupid, cradle robbing great uncle hadn't been such an irresponsible twit. Though if the man had been a little smarter he probably wouldn't have knocked up a girl young enough to be his granddaughter, Alexei thought wryly.

At least the woman in question had had the intelligence to approach his friend and Potter about taking the baby since she didn't want to be a mother. He knew what the little girl meant to them, and he couldn't imagine his own life without the little firecracker in it.

"So what brings you by, Alexei?" Riley asked, doubting that his parents had sent the man by to check on them. Everyone knew that his father's friend and Hugo didn't get along very well.

Since it had already been decided that Snape's real identity and circumstances were not to be discussed Alexei quickly thought up a response that was true without actually telling them the most important bits. "I've been assigned to help out the aurors in identifying a spell that was used on a special portrait. Your aunt and Mr. Prince are also helping. I just came by to discuss a few things before I headed to work."

"You're helping Granddad?" Honey asked Snape quietly, studying him warily. She hadn't quite made up her mind about him yet, but if he was working for Granddad then he had to be a good person cause that meant he helped people for a living.

To keep the peace and pancakes in front of him Snape nodded in agreement.

"You should ask for Uncle Hugo's help too, Alex." Bunny informed him. "He's smarter than anyone."

Only for love of her did Alexei bite back the fact that he'd sooner snog a dementor then ever ask Hugo Weasley for help. As it was he put down the knife he'd just used to cut into his pancakes, just in case he got tempted. "If he has anything to contribute I'm sure I'll hear about it." The look he aimed in the man's direction made it clear that any suggestions he might have were to be told to his cousin or Snape instead of him.

"Someone as intelligent as your Alex doesn't need my help." Hugo informed the little girl, hoping to earn some brownie points with his statement but not really surprised when the Slytherin in question went back to ignoring him. Such was their respective habits, he thought ruefully.

Not liking the sound of his petname on the Gryffindor's lips one little bit Alexei quickly changed the subject to what the three children were up to at school and the resulting conversation got them through the rest of the meal and the expected chaos that occurred until everything the kids would need for school had been collected and the children had said their good byes to those not accompanying them to their respective schools.

Leaving Hugo with the two Slytherins wasn't one of her best ideas but Lily trusted that Snape would protect Hugo from harm while she was away. But just to be on the safe side she gave Dolohov a warning glance as she stepped out the door, the man returning the look with a sneer.

"Don't you be mean to my Alex." Bunny called out to Snape as she headed out the door too. "If you are I'll bite you!"

Snape couldn't help but smirk. "Slytherins don't tend to turn on their own kind. It's the other houses you have to worry about me messing with."

"Then how come you're mean to me even though I'm gonna be in Slytherin when I get big and go to Hogwarts?" She demanded to know, her hands going to her little hips as she gave him a dark look.

Lips curving into a genuine smile Snape inclined his head towards her. "You get into Slytherin and I'll not only apologize for being mean to you, but I'll buy you a Little Bunny Foo Foo puppet."

Jumping up and down with excitement Bunny came running back through the doorway and threw herself at Snape, hugging his leg hard as she beamed up at him. "Thank you, Mr. Prince! I love bunny puppets!" And since he obviously wasn't the type who enjoyed being hugged by people he didn't know, her father was the same way, Bunny let him go and blew him a kiss. "Bye bye, Mr. Prince. I'll draw you a picture in art class later!"

He was so stunned by her reaction that Snape waved back to her without thinking as she turned tail and ran back out the door to join her siblings.

"She has that effect on people." Alexei informed him knowingly, a little relieved to see that someone as badass as Severus Snape could be as done in as quickly he was where Bunny was concerned.

"Merlin help our house if she actually gets in."

"Well it would help your house, wouldn't it? I mean she'd improve your image." Hugo pointed out, trying to be helpful.

The looks the two Slytherin sent him indicated that he couldn't be more wrong if he tried.


	14. I Hate You

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

I Hate You

Now that Lily and the kids were gone Hugo knew better than to stick around where Dolohov could see him. Because as much as he enjoyed being in the man's company, which probably made him just a bit of a sadomasochist, the Gryffindor knew better than to push his luck where the other man was concerned. Things had not ended well between them the last time Alexei had come by the house and he could see from the look he was getting that the Slytherin hadn't forgotten.

Meeting Snape's gaze Hugo pretended the other Slytherin wasn't even in the room. "I'm going to go do the dishes then. Get out of your way. Holler if you need me."

Pleased that Hugo was showing enough sense and self-preservation to not incite Dolohov's wrath by hanging around Snape nodded, watching the younger man head down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Shall we?" To distract the other man Snape motioned for Dolohov to follow him to the front parlor where they could talk about his situation.

"You go ahead, there's something I want to discuss with the Gryffindor first."

Alexei wasn't surprised when the elder Slytherin sent him a look that made it clear that he wasn't going to stand by and allow any harm to come to Hugo. "I don't intend to curse or maim him no matter how enjoyable that would be. You have my word. I simply wish to make something very clear to him in private. I will return shortly."

Not waiting for Snape's permission, it didn't even occur to him to do so, Alexei headed down the hallway and from there into the kitchen, eyebrows rising when he opened the door to find the Gryffindor actually filling the sink full of hot water. He'd assumed that the dishes had just been a convenient excuse.

"Did you want something?" Hugo asked, keeping his back to the other man. Most would think that a stupid move, but it was actually very strategic on his part. No matter how mad he made the man he knew the Slytherin would never curse a man from behind so as long as he wasn't looking at the other man he was mostly safe.

Walking over to stand at the taller man's side Dolohov got straight to the point. "While the children are here you will look out for them and make sure that that crazy cousin of yours doesn't experiment on them or endanger their lives by creating one of her explosion inducing potions. Anything happens to any of them and I'll take it out of you in blood, understand?"

"Since I hear some version of this whenever Lily babysits anyone's kids I have it memorized by now, actually."

"Figures." And not quite done issuing instructions yet Alexei moved a little bit closer, his tone taking on a slightly hint of mocking. "And it should also go without say, but we both know how lacking in common sense you are so I'll say this to you only once. Riley is completely and totally off limits to you. I don't care how hard up you are for a date. He's just a kid and if you so much as lay a single, un-uncle like hand on him you won't have hands, understand?"

Very slowly Hugo turned to face the Slytherin, his right hand still in the hot water he'd been in the process of checking when the other man had made his final announcement. Fingers closing around the sponge that had been floating in the water Hugo lifted it out of the water and very deliberately brought it up and over Alexei's head, squeezing it so that soapy water splashed down the Slytherin's hair, face and clothing.

Making a sound of outrage Alexei yanked his wand out of his pocket but never got a chance to use it, Hugo grabbing the Slytherin's arm as he was bringing it up and using it whirled the shorter man around then twisted, insuring that the man's wand was pointed towards the ceiling instead of him.

And ignoring the curses and threats being hurled at him Hugo started forcefully moving the man forward and out of the kitchen, his tone biting as his own words cut through the Slytherin's like a knife. "You can insult my looks, my intelligence, my common sense or any of the other millions of things you seem to find lacking in me on a daily basis. But you will not question my honor, especially when you're only doing it to be a jackass and not because you actually think I'd try anything with a child under my care."

When they entered the parlor Hugo walked over to Snape, who'd risen at their arrival.

"Take care of him, will you?" Shoving the man towards his friend Hugo spun of his heels and headed back the way he'd come, trusting that Severus would keep the other Slytherin under control for him.

Doing just that Snape grabbed the man's wand hand first, wrapping the other around the young Slytherin's waist for good measure.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU, WEASLEY!"

Ears ringing Snape had to question Hugo's sanity when the boy reappeared seconds later, and then the Gryffindor was throwing a towel at Alexei's head.

"Don't want him dripping all over the furniture." Hugo informed him coolly before leaving for good, having no intention of sticking around to be insulted or cursed. Or both.

And so once again a meeting with Dolohov was cut short because of Hugo, Snape thought wryly as he saw the portrait maker out of the house minutes later, the younger man so pissed off that trying to have a conversation with the other Slytherin was just plain pointless.

Hugo sure knew how to push that boy's buttons, he'd give him that.

And since he wouldn't be talking to Dolohov about how things were going in the quest to return him to his portrait Snape decided to head for the potion lab and get some independent work done before Lily got home to ream him over his earlier tooth fairy comment.

)

When the lab door swung open and Lily marched inside without verbally announcing her presence Snape knew he was in serious trouble. For one thing, his first thought upon seeing her wasn't that he should run or at the very least move to protect the most sensitive area of his anatomy. No, the first thought that came into his mind was how utterly and completely beautiful and sexy the woman was when she was pissed off. That was also his second and third thought, with his forth finally cluing him in, a little too late, that maybe he should be doing something other than stare at her like a dumb idiot.

For her part Lily had worked herself into quite an annoyed state having had to spend several minutes reassuring Bunny before school started that the tooth fairy would indeed know where to find her if she lost the tooth before she went home, the little girl's worries seriously pissing her off. Bunny was her family after all, and only a child on top of that.

And that, plus Dolohov showing up to remind her that Snape's existence in her world was only temporary, had led to her developing a good head of steam that had her itching for a fight and knowing exactly who she wanted to have that fight with.

Marching up to Snape Lily's eyes flashed with barely controlled fury as she poked him hard in the chest. "Okay, Buster, you and I are going to talk."

"Poking me in the chest is not a good idea." Was the best Snape could come up with, knowing he needed to respond somehow but having a hard time focusing on something other than her appearance.

"Shut up, Snake Boy." Lily snarled back, his sarcasm fueling the flames. "I get that you don't like kids. I get that the fact that said kids are my brother's puts them even higher on your shit list than the average kids on the street. TOUGH SHIT. They are CHILDREN and they don't deserve to be treated badly just because you developed a nasty as hell personality to cope with all the CRAP you had to deal with when you were their age. You had a horrible childhood, one I probably can't accurately imagine even if I tried because mine was the complete opposite of yours. I got lucky there and you didn't. I wish that hadn't been the case, but that's out of my hands. But either way you must know how to be a decent human being because you were friends with my grandmother for a really long time and if you were this horrible to her when you were children she'd have never stuck with you as long as she did. So you know how to be nice when it suits you and so from now on it's going to suit you to be nice to my nieces and nephew or I'M GOING TO CHAIN YOU TO YOUR BED AND MAKE YOU MY LAB RAT FOR HOWEVER LONG YOU'RE HERE ON THIS EARTH, UNDERSTAND!"

"Hugo wouldn't let you."

A twitch appearing under the redhead's eye Lily reached up and grasped the man's lapels, jerking him down to better see the look in her eyes. "He will because family always comes first in ours and NO ONE fucks with our family without paying for it. Big time."

Staring into those eyes Snape could all but feel the air crackling around them, passion and fury clashing and only growing the longer they stared into each other's eyes, neither of them willing or able to look away from the other.

Recognizing that she wouldn't back down on this, and frankly he would have thought less of her if she had, the Slytherin sighed once and then nodded his head. "I understand."

"So does that mean you'll be civil to them? On your word?" She wasn't backing down until he spoke the actual words, she knew how slippery Slytherins could be when it came to making deals. The Potions community was full of them. Actually, the shock of the fact that he wasn't really fighting her on this was killing all her anger, which wasn't a good thing if he did intend to weasel out of the deal she'd proposed without any belief that he'd fall in line.

"You have my word I will try my best to be civil to them." He was bound to slip up every once in a while after all, decades of being a certain way cemented into his psyche. But he would genuinely make the effort to hold his tongue where the children were concerned now, no matter how tempting it was to do otherwise.

They had enough reasons to fight without throwing the children in the mess.

Lily studied his face for several heartbeats and then nodded, letting go of his shirt. "All right then, thank you."

And that settled the Gryffindor took a step closer and wrapped her arms around the man, hugging him tight and setting her head against his chest. She needed a hug and he probably did too.

Frozen in place Snape stared down at her, flummoxed by the sudden show of affection. "Why are you hugging me?"

"After a bad fight is resolved in my family we hug to let each other know that all is forgiven." She informed him, which was true. "This is my way of saying that I'm not mad at you anymore."

"I see. You do realize that I'm not family, right?"

"You could be though, if you wanted to be. I mean I know you don't want to have anything to do with most of my family but if you stuck around, if you can't go back to your portrait, you could be a part of a family of three, with Hugo and me." Lily tightened her arms around his waist as she felt his body tense against hers. "I mean we'd be a pretty weird family, even weirder than we already are, but there's definitely room for one more."

Not knowing how to take that, what to think about what she was suggesting, offering him, Snape remained silent and lost in his thoughts, not pushing her away but not accepting either. Logically he knew what his answer should be, the nasty words already formulating in his mind with ease thanks to decades of experience. But they stayed only in his mind, not crossing his lips as his heart was lodged in his throat, blocking it.

Lily waited a few minutes for him to say something and then decided that he needed to think about it and that she should respect that. But still, she wasn't letting him off the hook entirely.

"I'm not letting you go until you hug me back, by the way."

Loudly clearing his throat Snape did his best to sound sarcastically annoyed by her statement. "Then you'll be there for a rather long time seeing as I don't hug."

"Sure you do, everyone can hug. It's remarkably easy." Lily informed him, tipping her head up to grin at him impishly. "It's so easy in fact that even a SLYTHERIN can do it."

"Slytherins are smart enough not to." Snape shot back, relieved to be falling back into their familiar rhythm where he knew what to say and how to say it. "Only GRYFFINDORS think that something as stupid as hugging can solve problems."

"So you're saying that Slytherins don't hug?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Any that do only do so because they're made to."

Lily pursed her lips together thoughtfully, a gleam coming into her eyes that had Snape sensing that he'd stepped into some sort of trap and that he was quite possibly going to have to chew his own leg off to get out of it.

But no, she didn't say anything, her smile just kept getting bigger and bigger, her brown eyes dancing so much that it was a wonder she wasn't bouncing up and down thanks to whatever was amusing her so much.

"Okay, what?" Snape finally blurted out, unable to stop himself. "What is going through that twisted little mind of yours, Woman?"

"Welllllllllllllllll." Lily drawled out, grin all but splitting her face. "I was just thinking how creative you Slytherins would have to be in bed to create little Slytherins without embracing at all. Kinky stuff, Mr. Slytherin. Who'd have thought it?"

Groaning at her words Snape closed his eyes and then leaned forward without thinking and laid his head against hers. "Why must you be this way? Why?"

Laughing in delight Lily kept one arm around his waist and lifted her other so that she could stroke back Snape's hair in a sweet, comforting gesture that was at odds with the deliberately patronizing words that followed. "There, there. It's going to be all right."

Utter defeat was in the Slytherin's voice. "I hate you."

Snickering Lily just kept doing what she was doing. "I hate you too, Sev."

His resigned sigh echoed in the quiet space.

)

How long they stood like that neither could say, Snape well aware of the fact that he really needed to get out of her embrace but also just as aware that she had absolutely no intention of letting him do so until he'd hugged her back. This of course posed a problem since there was no way in hell he was going to do so after already making a fool out of himself by not only letting her win their argument, but also letting her hug him in the first place. Not that there was really any way to stop her when she felt the need to be affectionate, she always seemed to get her way there.

Having a pretty good idea what was rolling through his Slytherin head at the moment Lily wisely opted not to rub in the fact that they both knew very well that he was going to have to give in and hug her sooner or later because he didn't have it in him to physically yank her off. For one thing she was stronger than she looked, Lily thought with a small little smile, and for another under his extreme asseholery Snape was too much of a gentleman to physically treat a girl roughly.

"You're really going to make me hug you, aren't you?"

"You bet your sweet ass."

Tipping his head up so that he could meet her gaze Snape tried unsuccessfully to stare her down. "You do realize that even if I were to give into your unreasonable and childish demand it wouldn't change the fact that I don't like you in any way, shape or form, and I would only be doing so in order to free myself from your rib bruising grasp."

"If you think that that's going to get me to turn you loose then I think you've been inhaling too many potion fumes today and need to go outside for some fresh air." Lily's grin could only be called cheeky. "I'll go with you to keep you company until you've regained your strength enough to give me a proper hug."

"What part of 'I hate you' don't you understand?" And thinking to distract he informed her that her cousin had been told he was hated by Dolohov earlier after Hugo had squeezed a sponge of hot, soapy water over the Slytherin's head.

"He did? And I missed it! That jerk! The least he could have done was waited to dump the water on the guy until I got home. See if I make his favorites for dinner tonight to make him feel better about having to deal with that ass again."

"Shouldn't you be worried about what Dolohov will do to him later in revenge?"

"Naw, he's not the sort to hit from behind. When he comes at Baby he'll do it in a straightforward manner. Hugo can take him."

"You aren't serious."

"Oh I am about Hugo and about the fact that you really are going to have to hug me."

"Damn."


	15. Fun In The Lab

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Fun In The Lab

It took her almost an hour but Lily finally got it through the Slytherin's thick skull that she really was prepared to hold on to him until he gave in and hugged her back. It was a short, brief hug by anyone's standards, but a hug nonetheless and one she'd definitely earned. And knowing the way his mind worked Lily didn't make a fuss when he finally caved, simply turning him loose as previously demanded and then suggesting they get some work done before lunch time.

They'd both been hard at work on their various tasks for two hours before Lily wandered over to check on his progress, frowning when she got a look at the potion currently bubbling away in his caldron. "That should be a darker shade of purple at this point."

"It would be if I was following your inferior instructions."

"Excuse me?" Crossing her arms in front of her Lily gave him a look that promised dark retribution. "Care to say that again?"

"I believe you heard me the first time."

His sneer would have really pissed her off except she was starting to find it really sexy, which was both a good and a bad thing. A good thing since it meant his constant sneering didn't make her mad, bad because if he kept stirring her up every time he did it she was liable to lose it and jump the poor man where he stood.

So wisely taking a moment to remind herself just how hard it was to get him to even hug her Lily drew in a deep, calming breath, and then in a reasonable tone she was very proud of politely inquired as to what he'd changed where the potion was concerned since it was intended for Domi's shop.

Since the less he talked to her the better Snape simply picked up the sheet of paper she'd given him with the potion recipe on it.

Taking it Lily would have been pissed that he'd written on it except she was too busy mentally accessing the changes he'd made, mind whirling as she predicted the way the ingredients would interact and what the overall results would be. It took her a minute or two to understand the changes he'd made and why, but in the end her lips curved into a wide grin that completely took the Slytherin by surprise.

"This is brilliant, it's going to be so much better now. I'll need to send a letter to Domi, explain what you've done and how we'll need to adjust the labels and stuff to reflect what you're changing and what it does but…this is going to make me so much more money! WAHOOO!"

And as he watched in stunned silence Lily did her happy dance.

Given that his whole reason for doing the potion his way was to show her up Snape was less then pleased by her happy reaction, though the cuteness of her little dance and the way she was moving her ass soon distracted him enough that he forgot all about his original intentions.

She really was an interesting individual, he'd give her that much.

And then she had to go and hug him again. Dammit.

)

Twenty minutes after the second hugging incident they were once again back to work, the two Potion Masters looking up from their tasks when they heard two voices speaking in perfect tandem, calling out to Lily from the front of the lab. The unknown voices wished to know if it was safe for them to enter and Snape turned his head to inquire who their guests were in time to watched his partner's face shift into joyful lines, love in Lily's voice as she called out for them to enter, already running towards the front of the building.

The two men who came into view were identical blondes, the two men moving in complete accord as they enfolded Lily in a three way hug that spoke of great love and affection for each other when she reached them.

Not recognizing the twins Snape hung back, calling himself every sort of fool for wanting to go over there and retrieve Lily from their grasp. That he also wanted to inform them that he was the only non-related male who was allowed to hug or be hugged by her was just acid on his wounds. One would have thought he'd learned his lesson, especially since he didn't even like her most of the time.

Completely unaware of the vibes Snape was giving off behind her Lily gave each man a smacking kiss on the lips as she informed her friends just how much she'd missed them while they were gone and how had their trip gone and most importantly, what had they got her?

"I think you better introduce us to your boyfriend first before he curses us." Lorcan drawled out, wariness in his blue eyes since the much older man looked more than capable of squashing a couple of Ravenclaws like birds who didn't know what window panes were.

"He does seem a bit perturbed by our physical displays of affection." Lysander agreed, not nearly as worried but that was just his easy going personality at work. He rarely worried about anything unless he absolutely had to.

Confusion in her eyes Lily looked back at the only male they could be referring to, the Slytherin seeming to pay her no attention as he deliberately ignored them. But she trusted Lorcan's instincts, he was pretty much never wrong about this sort of thing, and besides that he was a guy too. Girls knew instinctively when another girl was warning them off, why wouldn't guys be the same? They weren't THAT un-evolved.

"You think he's jealous?" To prevent herself from being poisoned later Lily kept her voice down so that only the twins could hear her.

The two nodded their heads in sage agreement.

"Hmmm. Interesting." And boy was it ever.

"Potter, if you need to leave then go. I'm perfectly capable of doing my work and yours."

Lily deliberately looked in his direction and then rolled her eyes. "You'd think you were the boss instead of me, Sev, really."

Knowing Lily well enough to know that she wasn't above using them to make some guy jealous Lorcan decided to save them all from the highly volatile chemistry that was bubbling away inside the lab and which had nothing to do with anything cooking in any of the caldrons.

"I apologize for the interruption. My brother and I just got back from South America and we wanted to drop off the specimens we collected for Lily straight away. I'm Lorcan Scamander and this is my brother Lysander. We're Lily's godbrothers, and you're working for her?"

"Hi." Lysander all but chirped, waving at the man who was looking at them like bugs he'd like to squash.

Godbrothers? Ah. The bizarre little space case Luna Lovegood had married a descendant of Newt Scamander as he recalled. The boys must belong to her. Lily's middle name was Luna after all.

Snape was pissed off that he was oddly relieved, not to mention the fact that the one was giving him the 'we know she's yours' vibe, which meant that he must have given something away to make the other man think he needed the reassurance in the first place. Dammit.

They would probably tell her too, if they hadn't already.

When it became apparent that he had no intention of introducing himself Lily did it for him. "This is Severus Prince and yes, he's working with me for the time being. It's a long, long story."

Since there was no way in hell her Slytherin was going to be remotely nice to the twins even though Lysander was generally one of those people everyone liked Lily suggested that they show her what they'd brought her. If Snape didn't want to play nice then he was going to have to tolerate being ignored.

And he did try to ignore them, oh how he tried, but eventually the scent that reached his nose had him wandering over, unable to believe that the two men had somehow managed to get ahold of an incredibly rare herb that had costed more than he'd made in a year of teaching back when he'd still been alive.

Apparently the twins had stumbled across it, thought it smelled pretty, and had decided to bring some back for Lily to experiment with for Domi's shop.

Oh yeah, they were definitely Lovegood's kids, Snape thought after they shrugged off the monetary worth of the herbs, brushing off Lily's protests that they should sell them to someone who could afford to pay the full price for them, which had of course gone up since his day. Apparently didn't care a whit for money so long as she could use what they'd brought her and by the time the two had left Snape had to admit that maybe they weren't so bad after all…given all the interesting things they'd brought back from South America for him and Lily to experiment with.

)

The children had been out of school for about two hours later that day when the doorbell rang out, Snape enlisted to get it since the girls and Riley were in the midst of helping Lily prepare dinner for that night. That and it probably wasn't safe to send one of the children given how many enemies the current bane of his existence had to have, the Slytherin thought darkly as he walked down the hallway, imagining that there were any number of witches and wizards out there who might come to try and do the annoying redhead in during his stay.

And when he opened the door and saw the two people who were standing there Snape had a moment to think that perhaps he really was interrupting an assassination attempt by answering the door instead of letting Lily do it.

But then he remembered who Albus Potter was married to and who he was actually looking at.

"You've come to see the children."

Draco Malfoy stared at the unfamiliar man, his self protection alarms sounding to a deafening degree. He was looking into the eyes of a very dangerous predator no matter how still the other man was. It was pure instinct that had him shifting so that his wife was slightly behind him, his other hand dropping into the pocket that held his wand.

"And you are?"

Staring into the eyes of his former pupil Snape would have been taken aback by how much Draco had grown to look just like Lucius if not for the fact that he'd known the latter when they were boys and therefore had always known that the son would take after the father in looks.

"I'm Severus Prince. I'm an associate of Miss. Potter." Damn if he'd call himself the woman's assistant. "You're here to see your grandchildren I presume, Mr. Malfoy?"

Most people would wonder at a complete stranger knowing his name, but Draco was used to it. Everyone in the Wizarding World knew his family.

"Yes, we've come to see them. We were told they were here with Lily." Not about to remain behind her husband a moment longer Astoria Greengrass Malfoy stuck out her chin, looking every inch the wealthy, influential lady that she was. "They are here, are they not?"

When the stranger nodded and moved to the side Astoria brushed past her husband and headed inside, ignoring the dark look she could feel her husband aiming at her back as he hurried to join her. She knew that her son's sister in law would never allow anyone who was truly dangerous into the house as Lily was dangerous enough without the help.

Hence her insistence that they come to check on her only grandchildren to insure they weren't being experimented on during their stay.

That George Weasley had experimented on his children, nieces and nephews far too often was the only logical explanation as to why so many of the now adult children were on the odd side and Astoria had no intention of allowing Riley and Honey to become any more scarred then they already were.

Following after the Malfoys as he informed them where to go Snape hung back to watch as the two little girls got all excited at the unexpected visit, part of their reason for being so happy quickly explained by the fact that Astoria had presents for them in the large bag she'd been carrying. Riley was more reserved, but he did smile at his 'grandmother' and shake hands with his 'grandfather' before accepting his own package, thanking them both before moving out of the way so that his adopted grandparents could concentrate their affections on his sisters.

While the two girls squealed with delight over the bunny and bear shaped purses Snape sidled up to Riley, curious about the book the boy had been given. It wasn't like the Malfoys would have access to Muggle fiction after all, and spell books wouldn't do the boy a lick of good.

Seeing the man's interest Riley held the book out so that its cover was easy to read.

"They always give me stuff that would help me survive if dark wizards and witches were to take over the world." The teenager informed the other man under his breath, just loud enough for Snape to hear. He had countless books on how to live off the land, detect magical traps, and how to identify poisonous substances and potions. He also possessed clothes that would deflect curses and jinxes, as well as other handy magical items that he mostly had no use for, but were none the less pretty iced.

Lips twitching Snape couldn't help but smile just a little.

"I take it as a compliment, that they want me to live so badly."

"I agree."

"What are you two whispering about?" Lily wanted to know as she joined them, her Weasley curiosity getting the better of her.

"Guy stuff." Riley informed her, giving her his best macho, manly man nod.

Having heard that excuse too many times to count as a girl with three brothers and no sisters, Lily stuck out her bottom lip in a pout even though she was thrilled that Snape had obviously taken her previous warning to heart and was genuinely trying to get along with at least one of her brother's kids.

And since she didn't want to mess with the possibility of that bond forming Lily decided not to press them about what they'd been talking about. Instead she suggested that her nieces and nephew show their grandparents to the front parlor and catch up in there. She'd bring them refreshments in a minute.

Following their aunt's orders the girls led the way out of the kitchen while Riley held back so that he could bring the refreshments so Lily wouldn't have to.

Lily waited until they'd all vacated the room and Riley was on his way with a loaded tray before she walked over to Snape's side, tugging on his arm to get his attention when he didn't immediately acknowledge her. When his eyes finally met hers she got straight to the point. "Does it hurt you to have him here?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm asking if it bothers you to have Malfoy in the house. I was thinking about inviting them for dinner but if their presence here bothers you I won't. How much of what was between the two of you was real and how much was calculation on both your parts…well I don't know but you were watching him earlier and you were hiding behind one of your masks while you did it. So I want to know if you want them gone because if you do I'll get rid of them, no problem."

"This is your house, who you invite over matters little to me."

"This is your home too. You have a say." Reaching up Lily gently stroked a hand through his hair once before lowering it, knowing the small show of comfort would be tolerated, if that.

When he stayed silent Lily pushed just a little firmer, eyes glued to his so that she wouldn't miss a single clue that might tell her the best way to maneuver through the possible emotional mine field she was walking through.

"Look, it took my family forever to be comfortable with having Scorpius at our family get together. If not for the kids I'm not sure some of them would have ever come around where he was concerned. And when both sides get together, like for the kids' birthdays and special events…it can get tense and uncomfortable and…and there have been times my mother and Astoria have had to physically get between their husbands and make them go off somewhere to cool down. The grandparents stay on opposite sides of the room and no one even tries to make them play nice…there are some wounds that open up on both sides when they have to interact with each other and we limit that as much as possible when we can. The Malfoys can see the children any time they want to, and I can even take them to the Manor tomorrow to spend time with them if necessary. You hurt enough without wounds being opened up that don't have to be…and in this case they don't have to be. Believe me, I've got no problem showing them the door. So if it hurts you to be near Mr. Malfoy just say so and he's gone, Sev."

Snape thought of any number of responses, but the look in her eyes, her concern for him had him answering honestly, his voice stiff and formal. "I'm fine sharing dinner with Draco. Invite them."

"Okay." And a smiling curving her lips Lily deliberately winked at him. "Though he might not accept my invitation, just so you know. For some reason people constantly seem to think that I'm the sort of person who would experiment on people without their prior knowledge."

"However could they think such a thing of you?"

"That's what I always say."


	16. Family Dinner

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all characters in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be. Thanks so much for reading, hope you review and let me know what you think!

Family Dinner

To Lily's way of thinking Draco Malfoy was probably the closest thing Severus had ever had to a child. Apparently they'd been pretty close while Draco had been a student, and while that could have been coldblooded calculation on her Slytherin's part she wondered if Severus hadn't seen some of himself in the boy too. Not to mention the fact that Narcissa Malfoy had thought the Potion Master's affection for Draco was strong enough that he'd be willing to kill Dumbledore in order to spare her son that task. Taking on the task of killing one of the most revered wizards of the twentieth century wasn't something any sane person took on lightly after all, especially when everyone knew how much you owed that person, as Sev had owed Dumbledore. Narcissa was no one's fool in general, just by asking him for help she'd risked a great deal. On some level the woman must have believed, to her very being, that Sev cared more about Draco than he did about himself.

And frankly she couldn't see how he wouldn't have seen himself in Draco. She did. A boy whose place in society and among his 'friends' was utterly dependent upon his willingness to do things he knew to be wrong and line crossing. From what she'd been told Draco Malfoy had figured out pretty quick that being a Death Eater was not a good thing, but had had no choice in the matter by then. Or at least not choices he was willing to make. Sev would know a lot about being in bad situations, knowing that you'd brought a lot of it on yourself and seeing no way out. Seeing your bad choices come back to bite you on the ass again and again, getting worse every time.

Even if the closeness had all been an act, there was no way someone as smart as Sev wouldn't have made the parallels and maybe Draco Malfoy had made them as well. He'd been the one of the few Slytherins who had attended Severus's funeral according to her father, and that said something too in her opinion.

"Hey."

Turning her head Lily smiled at Hugo, who smiled back at her. But she knew him too well to think that the smile was genuine. Sev had told her about her cousin's fight with Dolohov, so she'd been forewarned. "Heard Dolohov was even more of an ass to you than usual today."

"Yeah. So we're having the Malfoys over for dinner?"

Understanding that Hugo was the type who preferred to lick his wounds in private Lily didn't push the matter. "We are. Though if you've had your fill of Slytherins for the day you can always eat upstairs or in the kitchen, Baby. I don't think they'd mind that much. You know how it freaks out Slytherins, the way they're compelled to like you even though they don't want to on principle."

"They're pretty used to me by now, and I prefer eating with others. It will be fine. Is Severus okay with Mr. Malfoy being here? Those two have quite the past together, right?"

"He says he's fine."

Sharing a look that said they were both going to watch Sev like hawks during dinner just in case the man needed them, the two cousins turned their attention back to the dinner Lily was making. As they cooked they caught up on each other's day, Hugo not at all surprised to learn that Severus had opted to spend the time leading up to the meal in the lab under the guise of needing to finish some things in there.

The children were keeping their grandparents entertained, which was best for all involved.

Mind turning back to Sev, which was becoming more and more of a habit of hers, Lily couldn't help but take advantage of the Slytherin's current absence to ask her cousin a question. "Hugo…I'm being really stupid, aren't I, to be getting so attached to having him here?"

"Are you asking because you believe he'll be leaving us soon or because he's the sort of man you've always been looking for but a relationship with him would test even someone of your strength and stubbornness?"

Trust Hugo to cut to the heart that quickly. "Both."

Stirring the contents of the pot on the stove thoughtfully, Hugo was lost in silent musing for several minutes, Lily not rushing him since he wouldn't answer her until he'd sorted out his thoughts anyway. When it came to this cousin she'd learned to have patience.

"As it stands now the odds of anyone finding a way to release Severus's soul from Prince's body are low. Not enough people know what happened, and in all honestly you and I aren't terribly motivated to get rid of him so at least subconsciously we're probably trying to block any sudden flashes of brilliance that would help. If Alexei even had an inkling of how to reverse things he'd have said so by now, both to show me up and because he'd want it known how hard he's working towards the goal of not having to be around me. Severus is working on the problem as well…but I still maintain that what happened was mostly a result of dumb luck and chance on Prince's part. Recreating that would be hard enough, reversing it dangerous as hell. And none of us would want to risk damaging or damning Severus's soul accidentally."

Hugo tapped the excess gravy clinging to the spoon on the inside of the pot and then put the lid back on it. That done Hugo turned his attention to the second part of his answer.

"He fears love. To his very bones. And not just love, but bonding with others in general. Part of it is his personality of course, but the rest is that the people he was closest to in life used, lied and set into motion events that caused him great harm. Your grandmother would be the exception, but at the same time losing her, first to your grandfather and then in death, likely did more damage than anyone else in his life. The fact that you're his first love's granddaughter would be a serious problem in his mind, and in the mind of those who know who he actually is. He's said plenty of times that you aren't that much like her, which is in your favor, but the bonds of blood will always be there."

"I know that." Lily grumbled, half-heartedly kicking the cupboard in a small display of her inner turmoil. "It's all about her…HIS Lily. I'm the better Lily, but he's too dumb to realize it. And now I have to bash my own grandmother which is really unfair."

Lips twitching Hugo had to agree that the fates certain had a very twisted sense of humor sometimes. "So you want him?"

"I'm beginning to seriously think I'm that mental, yes."

"Well you are half Weasley." Hugo reminded her as he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Being a little mental is genetic."

"Too true."

)

Hugo had been sent to retrieve Severus while the others were getting ready to head to the dining room when the doorbell sounded. So leaving the kids to see their grandparents to their destination Lily headed for the front door, visibly surprised when she opened it to find Alexei Dolohov standing on her front porch, his expression making it clear that he'd rather he somewhere else. Anywhere else.

"Dolohov."

"I need to talk to your evil cousin."

Crossing her arms in front of her Lily leaned up against the doorframe, blocking his entrance with her body. "I don't have any evil cousins. I have plenty of weird cousins, and nosey cousins, and cousins who can look like a million galleons without trying which is sort of evil…but no actually evil ones. Not even my second cousins are evil, and that was very possible given some of their less than appealing genes."

"You know which cousin I mean."

"Yeah, and calling him evil isn't the way to make me want you near him. In fact, seeing as you have a nasty habit of being decidedly evil to him, I have absolutely no incentive to let you anywhere near him."

An inner struggled showed on the Slytherin's face for several moments. "I've…come to apologize."

"That would be a first." Not that she didn't believe him, the Slytherin's expression said it all. He looked like a man being led to the gallows.

"And it's going to be the last, trust me."

Lily's smirk made it clear that she didn't believe that for a minute given the turbulent relationship between the two. But she didn't say it, instead telling him to wait on the porch while she went to get her 'evil cousin. And she closed the door in the Slytherin's face, just to be bitchy too. He might leave, but that would just make his eventual apology that much more interest to have Hugo recap for her later.

Walking into the dining room to retrieve Hugo, who was already there with the rest, Lily smiled at everyone before moving over to where Hugo was sitting, putting her arm around his shoulder for moral support as she spoke.

"Dolohov's here and apparently he wishes to apologize to you for being an ass earlier. Normally I'd think that was bull but judging by his pained expression he actually means it. He's waiting for you on the porch so go ahead and we'll wait for you." Her lips curved. "Or, if you like, we could just leave him out there and eventually he'll leave and be so pissed at you that odds are he'll leave you alone for possibly years to come."

"Dolohov? Was my Alex mean to you, Uncle Hugo?" Bunny demanded to know, her tone of voice indicating she'd give the man quite the talking to if that was the case.

Giving her a reassuring look Hugo told her not to worry, that he and Alexei had just had one of their minor spats.

Draco and Astoria shared a look that said they were well aware of how often Alexei and Hugo had 'minor' spats and that they didn't believe for a minute that Alexei hadn't been downright nasty to the Gryffindor. To their knowledge the boy was the only person in England who could be mean to Hugo Weasley for minutes, much less the years the two had been going at it.

"I'm going to go out there, you guys go ahead and start without me."

Leaving them to it Hugo headed out of the room and wasn't really surprised to find that Lily had closed the door and just left the Slytherin on the porch to cool his heels so to speak.

Opening it Hugo stepped out and closed the door behind him, just in case. "Good evening."

"I'm here to apologize." Alexei informed him bluntly, not about to beat around the bush or stay longer than was necessary. "I shouldn't have suggested what I did. I don't take back anything else I've said over the years…but I shouldn't have said something I know isn't an issue just because you piss me off simply by existing. You mess with my head whenever you're around me and…it was a cheap shot. The cheapest I've probably ever taken. It won't happen again."

Unlike all the other Slytherins he knew he was capable of tearing into the man before him without too much backlash…but what he'd done this time, knowing how badly the Gryffindor had taken it…had eaten at him the entire day.

"Apology accepted."

Completely caught off guard Alexei blinked at the man like an owl. "Seriously? Just like that?"

Hugo just shrugged. "If it were someone other than you I'd probably give holding a grudge a try, at least for a little while. But I know you. You'd sooner hack off a limb than apologize to me, so you must be feeling worse than that about what you said before. I don't like the thought of you hurting that way if I can help it."

Scrubbing his hands over his face Alexei groaned. "This is why I can't stand you. Saying shit like that."

"If it would make you feel better you could come in and have dinner with us. Lily and Bunny will make you feel plenty crappy if you'd prefer that."

"No."

And not bothering to say good night Alexei turned and stepped off the porch with a decidedly irritated swing to his hips, which only got worse when he felt the Gryffindor's eyes on his ass right up until he dissipated.

)

Once Hugo returned in one piece and with a smile on his face the mood at the table settled once more, everyone turning their attention to passing the food around the table with Draco and Astoria each filling their own plates and the plate of the granddaughter beside them. While Snape watched with interest he saw that Draco didn't ask Honey if she wanted any gravy, the girl making a face at it as the man passed it to his wife. Draco had known not to ask, just as the man cut up his granddaughter's meat for her without being asked, careful to keep her food somewhat separate so that they didn't mix on her plate.

And it wasn't just Honey, Snape learned during the dinner, unable to stop himself from watching how his former student interacted with the children, comparing it to the relationship Lucius had had with Draco when the man had been a boy. It wasn't the same of course, the relationship between a grandparent and his grandchildren versus a father and a son, but wouldn't how the three children had turned out thus far reflect to at least some degree on how Draco had raised his only son?

Draco wasn't terribly talkative during the meal, mostly ignoring those not of his family unless necessary, but he did talk to each of the children, displaying a knowledge of their lives, interests and school activities. He talked to Riley about school and didn't ask for grades and the teenager's standing both academically and socially the way Lucius had grilled him when he was a boy. He asked about the boy's friends, but he got the sense that he asked more out of worry that Riley didn't seem to have many and was more of a loner than worry about how the teen's choices reflected on the family.

Draco wouldn't understand the appeal of being alone, when he was younger he had constantly needed positive reinforcement and attention from his peers to reassure him of his place.

And naturally it was only a matter of time before Draco turned his attention to Snape since the man's instincts weren't so dulled by time yet that he didn't know when he was being studied and watched.

"I had a teacher at Hogwarts whose mother was a Prince before marriage. Were you perhaps related to Severus Snape?" Because there was something about this man that reminded him of the man even though Draco couldn't quite put his finger on what that something was.

"Distantly, yes."

"I don't recall seeing you at the service or burial."

He'd actually had a full funeral? Why? The only person he could think of that would have come was Potter and that would be out of obligation. And…and if Draco knew who had been there then that meant the boy had attended?

Unaware of the fact that his eyes had softened ever so slightly Snape spoke softly as he explained that he hadn't been able to make it.

"I see. He never mentioned you." No one had ever mentioned the fact that his former mentor had had a relative so close to his own age, Draco mentally added, his suspicious nature rearing its Slytherin head. The man looked to be a little younger than him, and he would have known if they'd gone to Hogwarts together. The fact that this Prince fellow shared his former teacher's first name was odd too, and made his shoulder blades itch.

Snape shrugged off the question, knowing the less he said the better.

"Did you attend Durmstrang or Beauxbatons?"

"He was a Slytherin too, Grandpa." Bunny informed him with a big smile. "And if I get into Slytherin too he's going to buy me a Little Bunny Foo Foo puppet!"

Eyes immediately narrowing, Draco's eyes drilled into Snape's. "And how is it you were in my house and I don't know you? How old are you?"

"Grandpa, you aren't supposed to ask people as old as Mr. Prince how old they are." Bunny warned him, unknowingly coming to Snape's rescue as she wagged her finger in her grandfather's direction. "They get really upset, specially if they're girls." Her daddy's Aunt Fleur had not been happy when she'd asked her how old she was.

"He won't care." Draco informed her patiently before turning his attention back to Snape.

Willing to use the excuse he'd been handed Snape kept his face neutral. "Ah, but I do. I'm sensitive about my age, sorry."

The look on Draco's face made it clear he didn't buy that for a minute.

Not wanting there to be an argument Honey reached out and tugged on Draco's sleeve. "Grandpa, can I have some more pickles, please?"

Draco's attention shifting to his granddaughter as the line of conversation was broken for the moment, Snape made an effort to do nothing more to draw the man's attention back to him afterwards, lapsing into his own thoughts instead.

He'd requested to be cremated, but obviously his wishes had been disregarded, Snape thought as he ate the rest of his dinner automatically. Had they interned his body on school grounds like other headmasters and mistresses before him?

It didn't make any sense to him, but Snape had to admit that the idea of there being a headstone somewhere in the country with his name on it creeped him out quite a bit.

Lily would know, he would ask her about it later.


	17. Resting Place

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Note: Now that I've revealed who Al's married to I figured I'd better explain Bunny's heritage since there's some confusion. Bunny is the result of an affair between Alexei's great uncle and one of Astoria's sisters. The two didn't want to marry or raise a child so Bunny was given to her nephew Scorpius and Al to raise, both because they couldn't have children and to keep the baby in the family. Riley and Honey are not related to them or each other, he was removed from his family when he was young and she's an orphan.

Resting Place

He just managed to get through dinner with the Malfoys, Lily, Hugo and the kids all distracting them to the best of their abilities, which were considerable. Hugo could out talk anyone he'd ever met. So they got through dinner without him being overly grilled, though Snape knew without question that Draco was going to be asking around about him and coming back when there was nothing to find out. That being the case he could only hope that the children wouldn't be with them much longer, since the safety of Lily and Hugo probably didn't concern the other Slytherin that much.

After dinner he headed out to the lab to finish up some stuff there, returning to the house just in time to hear the kids being read to.

And though he would have much rather sneaked by without acknowledging them, Snape figured he owed them somewhat for their help earlier, even if they were the reason Draco had come by in the first place. So he walked into the living room to find all three of them already under the covers, Riley in the middle with a girl on either side.

"Good night, all three of you."

"Mr. Prince!"

Pushing aside her side of the covers Bunny climbed off the pull out bed and hurried around it, her hair all done up in rags and her exuberance making it clear she was far from ready to go to sleep. Making a beeline straight for him she hugged his leg while beaming up at him, the look in her eyes saying that she knew he didn't exactly appreciate the gesture but that she knew he'd tolerate it. "Good night to you too, Mr. Prince."

"Good night." Honey added shyly, giving him a little wave from the bed.

"Good night." Riley echoed, the faint smile he was wearing making it clear he found the whole thing mildly amusing.

"We're reading 'Little Bunny Foo Foo'!" Bunny informed him, letting go of his leg but remaining beside him since she saw his interruption as a way to prolong things before she was once again made to go back to bed. "Uncle Hugo it for us today after work. Foo Foo is fuzzy when you touch him in the book, wanna see?"

Knowing better than to look down at her and give her the attention she wanted, Snape pointed out that she couldn't be read the story if she was over here with him instead of with Riley and her sister.

"We already read the story. Riley's reading it to us again. Come listen with us, kay?"

"No." Reaching down Snape lifted the surprised girl up and into the air, holding her carefully by her waist so that they were eye to eye. "You need to go to bed, finish your story, and then get lots of sleep so that you'll have the energy to play with your friends tomorrow."

And not giving her a choice in the matter Snape walked over to the bed and leaning forward handed her over to Riley, who relaxed the body that had gone tense as soon as Snape had put his hands on his sister. "You'll stay here now." He ordered, before amending that for bathroom breaks.

"Thanks for that." Riley muttered under his breath, the hint of a smile back on his face.

"Sleep. All of you."

"Yes." The three chimed, Riley and Bunny's smirks calling their willingness to retire into question.

Not about to stay and argue, Snape gave them commanding looks before heading up the stairs and straight to his room. It was tempting to see to it that they couldn't get in without his permission, especially Bunny, but he didn't feel like going to the trouble or dealing with that in the morning.

So instead he got undressed, changed into the shirt and pajama bottoms he wore to bed, and then climbed in to read the book Hugo had insisted he just had to read a few days before. It was actually rather interesting, and he figured it would be a good way to pass the next couple hours before he turned in for the night.

)

The nightmare was a serious of flashes, the images lasting long enough to make impact, but not enough to give him time to talk with his accusers or try to help the dying laid out before him with their life's blood leeching out of them. So many familiar faces, voices, hate and pain filled words that he'd heard millions of times in his nightmares hurled out at him as they reminded him of his crimes, the part he had to play in their deaths.

And always there was Lily's voice in the background, the woman's voice reduced to an eerie hiss as she damned him for bringing about her death, Potter's. Always making it so very clear that his decision to protect Harry had given him so redemption in her eyes.

She would never forgive, he would never be forgiven.

No matter how he yelled his apologies, no matter how desperately he begged for forgiveness, his words would not reach her, the blackness all around him sticking to him like crude oil, covering him with it so that he was as filthy and disgusting as he was on the inside

But even as it threatened to swallow him whole another voice joined the others, one that was just as familiar but was speaking words that contrasted sharply with the others. This voice forgave him. This voice offered comfort and reassurance.

This voice made the blackness disappear from his body, sliding off it like water on a duck's back.

And slowly the details of the nightmare faded, the voices becoming faint and nonsensical. All the voices but one, the one that had started the disintegration of the dream in the first place and brought warmth back into his skin and air into his lungs as the blackness receded. Her voice told him that he was safe, that he had nothing to fear and that she was here for him. She accused and blamed him for nothing, her warmth and love wrapping around him like a quilt, so that he wanted nothing more than to get closer, to hear more and soak it in.

When his eyes flickered open he was so warm and comfortable that Snape did nothing to betray that he was awake, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings so that even as his head all but exploded with shock he stayed still in Lily's arms.

Unaware that he was awake, he always seemed to drift from his nightmares to his regular dreams without waking, Lily continued to hold him against her, stroking the head that rested against her breast as she spoke the usual reassurances that her own mum had whispered to her when she'd had bad dreams. Not that her feelings for Sev were remotely maternal, but they worked with him and that was the main thing.

It took every ounce of control Snape had not to stiffen up, only the thought of the discussion that would follow if she knew he was awake kept him from cluing her in as he tried to wrap his mind around the situation he'd found himself in.

Had he spoken while the nightmare had had him by the throat? Had he cried out or just plain cried? He must have done something to have brought her to his room, it would be too coincidental for her to have just suddenly got the urge to check on him in the middle of the night.

The feel of her fingers running through his hair, not to mention what his head was pillowed on was damn distracting too.

But just as Snape was coming to the conclusion that he had to say something before things got any weirder he felt her shift against him, showing a great deal of skill in seamless sliding away while carefully holding his head and under his arm to settle him once more on the bed.

Positioning the covers back into place, tucking him in even though she'd watched him sleep enough to know he tended to move around and dislodge them in no time, Lily smiled and leaned forward to place a kiss on his cheek. "Okay, I think you'll sleep now. And don't worry, I'll come again if the machine goes off, just like always. Sweet dreams now, Sev. That's an order."

Another kiss and one last tender caress of his hair, and then Lily got off the bed and headed across the room, making hardly any noise at all before closing the door behind her soundlessly.

Snape waited several heartbeats before he let his eyes flash open, knowing his cheeks were red and too busy thinking to care about that.

Sitting up he started scanning the room, his brain working at full speed. This wasn't the first time she'd snuck in here while he was having a nightmare, his belief that his worst dreams hadn't followed him into this new body a false hope. He'd had a couple early on but after that…she must have discovered what was going on and started coming in here and easing him out of them, comforting him enough that he hadn't even remembered the nightmares the next morning.

He'd think and be humiliated by that fact later though. First he was going to find this machine of hers.

It took him awhile, he felt like an idiot for not looking under the bed sooner, but eventually Snape came up with the contraption she'd somehow jury-rigged to warn of nightmares. He knew what the original purpose of the machine was, and it didn't take him long to follow her thought process.

Clever girl.

Even more clever when you considered that she had to have thought she could get away with this even if he were to discover the device and figure out what she was up to. She probably figured that he'd be too embarrassed and determined not to discuss his personal business to ever admit that he was even having nightmares in the first place.

She was right.

But the thing obviously transmitted a signal to her bedroom telling her to come too, and it wouldn't be doing that again which would solve the problem.

He didn't know much about this sort of thing, mechanics and learning how machines worked had never interested him that much, but since he was trying to screw it up Snape figured that there was no wrong way to screw with it so long as he screwed with it badly enough to prevent it from working.

Once he'd messed with it to his satisfaction he returned it to its hiding place and then forced himself to lie back down on the bed, never more aware of the fact that the sheets and pillow smelled faintly of both him and her, their scents twined together.

Damn. It was going to be one of those nights.

)

Lily did her best to hide her thoughts the next morning after she got a look at Snape. He'd obviously not slept very well, but the alarm hadn't gone off after the first time, and he'd been sleeping fine when she'd left. Maybe the dreams had come back but not so badly that the machine had been triggered. If that was the case she'd have to look into making it more sensitive. Though that could be dangerous, because he needed to be sleeping deeply enough that he was only aware of her presence on a subconscious level.

Decisions, decisions.

"Lily."

Something about the way he spoke her name had a shiver go down her spine, but Lily forced herself to keep a calm face as she turned her attention from the bacon she was frying to him. "Yes, Sev?"

"Do you know where my body is buried?"

O-kay. "I do-so to speak. Why? Is this about your portrait somehow?"

"I want to visit it."

It sounded like a creepy request to her at first, but after a moment's pause she figured that she'd probably want to visit hers too in his shoes. Her funeral definitely. And then she'd haunt the asses of anyone who didn't attend with good reason. Like they were dying too.

"Sure. After I take the kids to school we can go if you like."

"Fine."

Watching him walk away without another word Lily bit down on her bottom lip as she debated to herself whether she should see if Hugo could come with them as well, deciding against it after a few minutes of contemplation. The fewer people around the better, especially since it would just make things worse if he thought, correctly, that she was coddling him.

So she'd just tell Hugo to work from home today, so that he'd be here when they got back.

)

Of course he recognized the cemetery as soon as they appeared outside of it, he'd come there a number of times to place flowers on Lily's grave and to apologize again and again to a piece of stone that couldn't answer back. He wanted to ask why he'd been buried here but Snape held his tongue, following after Lily in silence. From the direction they were going he assumed she wished to visit her grandparents first, which explained the flowers she'd cut from her gardens before they'd left her house.

The closer they got the more he dragged his feet, not wanting to stand before his Lily's grave with her granddaughter at his side. He didn't want the woman besides him to see him that way, unable to control the reaction he had every time to reading that headstone, seeing a once vibrant woman reduced to a few lines etched into rock.

Well aware that he'd fallen slightly behind her Lily didn't comment, simply walking over to her grandparents' headstone. She didn't speak, this visit wasn't about her after all, so she simple divvied up the huge bouquet she carried with both arms, placing a smaller version in front of the stone that bore her parents' names and then moved down to place another bouquet under each of the granite slabs that had been placed dead center on either side, in the middle of the graves.

Noting what she'd done Snape's brows lowered in confusion, just able to see that the additions to the gravesite from where he stood off to the side. And while it wasn't that unusual to see such thing it would suggest that someone had been buried on top of each of the Potters, which made no sense as they hadn't lost any family members afterwards. Unless Potter and his Weasley wife had lost a child he wasn't aware of, but that would have been big news in the Wizarding World. Even England's portraits would have heard about it.

Lily returned to his side, her arms empty now. She simply stood by him for several heartbeats and then pointed to the slab situated over her grandmother's side. "That's what we came here to see."

What they'd come to see? What was she talking about? He'd asked her to take him to his-oh.

Oh no, Snape thought as the heart he now owned squeezed painfully, cutting his air as he realized that maybe, just maybe, she had brought him to his former body's final resting place.

And like an old man, or a colt just learning to walk, Snape all but staggered over towards that granite slab laid out so innocuously in the ground before him. He could sense Lily was keeping close, but she made no effort to help him or push him, simply letting him know that he had only to ask for her.

It took him ten times longer than it should have, but he reached the marker and bent down to read it, fingers shaking as he traced the letters of his name. And it wasn't the sight of his name or date of birth and death that had his sight blurring and his legs threatening to buckle on him. No it was the final inscription at the bottom that was doing him in with a thoroughness he hadn't felt in decades.

'Beloved Friend'

"Why?"

"You specified you wanted to be cremated, but dad said you didn't state what you wanted done with your ashes afterwards. He'd already decided to put in the marker over my grandfather for Sirius, since he didn't have a body to bury and he was…Dad said Sirius was defined by his friendship with my grandfather and that this would please him. You were defined by your relationship with my grandmother…and you didn't have any family and dad figured he owed you this at least. He thought you'd rather be here with her than at Hogwarts."

"The inscription." He just managed to choke out, unable to believe that Harry had done this. Thought to do this.

"Do you want to ask him about it?" Lily asked.

Did he? He didn't know. At the moment he felt like he knew nothing.

So he didn't reply and didn't move, remaining where he was as the minutes ticked by. He didn't know how long they were there for, feeling neither the sun shining down on them or the cool breeze that kept the sun from warming them too much.

Eventually she took a seat beside him, so silent and still, going so much against her basic nature that it slowly seeped into Snape's mind how completely she was there for him. Everything that she was was focused only on him, on being whatever he needed her to be.

And it was that foreign, heartbreaking realization that had him reaching out and taking her hand, lacing their fingers together.

He couldn't say anything, but he squeezed those warm fingers, unbearably comforted when she squeezed back.


	18. Talking It Through

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the general plot. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Talking It Through

Lily was tempted to fidget or tell a joke to lighten the mood, but that seemed really disrespectful, especially since it was her grandparents' grave she was also sitting in front of. It wasn't like they had anywhere they had to be after all, it was mostly just that she wasn't used to being quiet and still for so bloody long. Plus the atmosphere was more than a little depressing, her brain only now really wrapping around the idea of what it must be like to actually sit before your grave. It was morbid as hell, and this wasn't even her grave.

Cremation was definitely the way to go.

Plus she could all but see the effect this visit was having on the man beside him, knotting up her stomach and threatening to make her as miserable as he currently was. He was better then he'd been earlier, and he was still holding her hand which was probably a good sign, but he felt distant from her too, lost in a past she wasn't a part of.

And that thought really made her want to punch something.

"I can hear you thinking."

"Well you Slytherins might be able to turn what brains you have off easy, but we Gryffindors like to use ours constantly."

Wincing as soon as the shot was out of her mouth Lily cursed lightly under her breath, a blush washing over her pale cheeks.

Amused by her, Snape felt his lips curving a little, a marvel given the present circumstances. "What were you thinking about?"

"You probably don't want to hear it."

"I asked, didn't I?"

"True." And since he had asked, and she wanted so badly to say it, Lily kept a firm grip on the hand she still held as she answered him. "I was thinking that you're kinda stupid to take all this blame on your shoulders. I mean yes you messed up epically, a number of times, but you didn't ask Moldie Voldie to kill her. That was totally on him." When he tried to jerk his hand out of hers Lily tightened her hold. "Think about it. You weren't even his only accessory before the fact. It was Wormtail's decision to betray where they were to Voldemort, he did it deliberately knowing what would happen to friends who would have died for him. Sirius blamed himself too, because it was his idea to make Wormtail the secret keeper. And Dumbledore felt bad because it was his fault my grandfather didn't have his invisibility cloak at the time. Teddy's dad probably felt guilty too, for not being able to protect his friends. My dad…he has to live with the fact that his parents died so young because they had him in the first place. He didn't ask to be born, or to be the boy picked to fit the prophecy, but that's not how guilt works, right? And yeah my grandparents were killed because of that prophecy, but you know they made the decision to protect him and not hand him over to save their own skins. My grandmother might have even been spared for your sake if she'd been willing to hand my dad over when actually faced with impending death."

"He would have never gone after them if I hadn't told him-."

"Now that's bollocks." Lily cut in without a qualm. "They were members of The Order of the Phoenix. He was gunning for them as soon as they joined up. And who's to say they wouldn't have been the ones who ended up like the Longbottoms if Voldemort hadn't gone after Neville instead? Cause personally, I'd pick being dead dead, to a living death."

Snape scowled at her. "You don't understand."

"What don't I understand? What it's like to feel guilty? Of course I know what that feels like. I might not have ever screwed up quite as badly as you did, but I've done stuff I wish I hadn't or could take back. Everyone has. Everybody messes up sometime, and people get hurt needlessly as a result. That's life. That's how we learn. We can't learn without pain. This Aristotle guy Hugo likes to quote said that and it always made sense to me."

When he remained silent, not because he was thinking about her words but because he didn't want to acknowledge them, Lily scowled at him, tempted to punch him in the shoulder.

"You know, my grandmother must be pretty angry at you. Not because of what you did, but because you're using her memory as a hair shirt. You need to quit it."

Yanking his hand out of hers successfully this time Snape got to his feet, pain and anger radiating from him as he snarled at her that she had no idea what she was talking about.

Getting to her feet Lily put her hands on her hips, not intimidated in the least as she glared up at him. "I do because if I was her I'd have forgiven you for what you did. And maybe I'm not that much like her, since you're always saying that I'm not, but if she was a decent human being than she's forgiven you by now and you do her wrong to suggest that she's such a heartless, vindictive bitch that she wouldn't care that you tried with every ounce of your being to make amends for what you did before you died!"

Stunned speechless Snape could do nothing but stare now, her words slicing into every festering wound his soul possessed. Not healing those wounds, not that, but opening them up so that the bile and poison underneath was no longer contained within him. It spilled out, which was painful as hell, making him remember so many things, but also making him think too as he looked at what had been poisoning him for decades.

Moving forward Lily wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder. "It's okay to feel guilt, and it's okay to remember the past and remind yourself of what you've done and why it's important to never do them again. It's just not okay for you to hate yourself the way you do, Sev. She wouldn't want you to hate yourself."

Wrapping his arms around her waist in turn Snape asked the question before he could stop it from passing his lips.

"You really think she doesn't hate me?"

"You know her better than I do…remember who she was. What kind of person she was. Do you think she could see and know all that you've done and still hate you?"

He didn't know how to answer that.

)

When they arrived back at the house Snape informed Lily that he was going to go to his room and that he preferred not to be disturbed unless necessary. She'd given him a lot to think about after all, and he couldn't mull everything over at his own pace with her nervous energy driving him nuts. Naturally Lily hadn't liked the idea, she wanted to stick by his side because she was worried about how he was handling things, but in the end she agreed to let him have his way after making him give her his word that if he needed her or anything he'd send her a message.

So she headed to her lab and he headed to his room.

Once there he took a seat on the bed, facing the window, and did his best to work through everything he'd thought he knew and everything Lily had said and insinuated.

He was still at it a couple hours later when a knock came at the door.

It wasn't Lily who entered when he gave his permission, Snape not even really all that surprised to see Hugo as the boy walked over to take a seat beside him, setting a tray with sandwiches and two cups of pumpkin juice between them.

"There's no point in arguing, you need to fuel your brain." Hugo informed the Slytherin, knowing that his friend would let him eat all the sandwiches if he didn't make him eat at least one. "I'm here for the rest of the day; I brought my afternoon work home with me. If you don't want to talk to me that's okay, unlike Lily I don't mind silence. Or you can use me as a sounding board, if that help. Or you can eat your lunch quickly and then kick me out, I won't take offense to that either."

Knowing better than to even try arguing with Hugo Snape made himself pick up half a sandwich and bite in, unable not to smile just a little over the fact that it was peanut butter and jelly. The ultimate comfort sandwich. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

And just like that Hugo went silent, not saying or doing anything but eating his share of the food.

"Hugo?"

"Hmmm?"

"I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

It didn't really relate to his own situation, but it did too, and he'd been wondering about it for a while. "You forgave Alexei for whatever he said to you that got you so angry yesterday…and from the sounds of it he's been consistently nasty to you as long as you've known him. You keep forgiving him and you still like him…why?"

Hugo shrugged his shoulders, an understanding smile on his face. "That's a tough one to answer, especially since most people don't see him the way I do. A lot of people think I'm a masochist where he's concerned, but I'm really not. I don't like it when he's mean to me in the slightest. But you see, and most people disagree with me on this, I think that Alexei does like me too, he's just Nile deep in denial about it."

"I see." He was with most people on this one.

Almost as if he could read Snape's thoughts Hugo grinned. "You have to really listen to the way he talks to me to see it. I mean yes, half the things he says are mean and meant to be, but the other half of the time he's usually yelling at me for doing things he thinks are stupid or dangerous. So if he didn't care about my wellbeing, why would he have yelled at me for talking to strangers in Hogsmeade? Or for getting into an 'Eating Strange Foods' contest with Al? I think he cares…even if it's not as much as I'd like. And maybe I'm deluding myself, but that's okay too. I'd rather think the best of him than the worst of him."

The Slytherin was still with most people.

"But he still says horrible things to you half the time."

"True, but he likes to argue and be nasty. It's just his personality. Plus he sort of has the mindset that if you can't take his bullying you should just stay the hell away from him so he doesn't have to deal with you. I can deal." Leaning to the side a little Hugo gave Snape a co-conspirator wink. "Actually, I find him rather adorable when he gets all puffed up and pissy. But don't tell him I said that, or he'll try to kill me."

"You're an odd man, Hugo Weasley."

"Yeah, I know. You're a pretty interesting guy too."

Smiling in spite of himself, Snape had to admit that if they did ever figure out how to put his soul back in a portrait he would definitely miss this young man. Perhaps the only male friend he'd ever truly had, Hugo was indeed a gift to this world, quirks and all.

"Maybe I'm wrong about this too…but I think if someone's really sorry, you should forgive them. Or if you can't forgive them, because the pain they caused you is too great or new for that, that you should at least accept their apology. Acknowledging the fact that you know they're suffering too is a step in the right direction."

Staring down at his hands Snape turned the glass he held around and around. "I don't…I don't have memories of the afterlife. Just my life while I was alive and then in the portrait. I wonder if the rest of me got to see her…to apologize to her in person. I wish I knew, if I had that chance, what she said."

"But you would apologize to her, face her if given the chance. A lot of people wouldn't have that courage or strength of character. And whatever else, she was your best friend, wasn't she? A best friend would be able to look at you and know what's in your heart."

"So you think as Lily…our Lily does, that I should let go of my guilt and move on?"

Our Lily, huh, Hugo mused but didn't comment on.

"I don't think you'd like my suggestion on what I think you should do."

Surprised by that response Snape looked up and over, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "What is it?"

Hugo debated and then figured he might as well even though the Slytherin wasn't going to like it one little bit. "I think…since you can't have a conversation or ask Lily's grandmother for forgiveness…maybe you should ask it from her son."

"What?" The word was barely above a whisper, but Hugo caught it.

"You used Uncle Harry to atone for the things you did wrong when you were young. Right or wrong you didn't protect him, at least at first, because he was a child who needed to be protected. You did it because he was your Lily's son. Whether that changed along the way I don't know, that's between the two of you. But you were both a very negative influence and a positive one in his life, just like you were when it came to your Lily. So ask him for forgiveness for the bad things you did to him, and see what that does to your perspective and conscience."

"I'd sooner shove my head up a dragon's ass."

"Yeah, I know. But maybe hearing him say he forgives you will help. From the sounds of it…you need to hear it with your own ears to truly believe."

The sound Snape made was too harsh to be called a laugh. "You're presuming he'd forgive me."

"You know he will, that's why you don't like the idea that my cousin has your name for a middle name. That he did that deliberately, when there were plenty of other people he could have memorialized that way, says a lot, doesn't it? He picked your name to acknowledge what you'd done for him and the fact that he understands the choices you'd made and why you made them. The truth is…you're holding onto your guilt all on your own. Neither his mother nor Harry are the ones heaping it on your shoulders. You are."

Not liking this idea one little bit Snape sent down the glass before he broke it and then resolutely crossed his arms in front of him. "That's not why I don't like Lily's brother having my name." He muttered, unaware that he sounded like a sulky child who knew he'd done wrong but didn't want to admit it. "The boy's weird. That's why I don't like it."

"Everyone's a little weird. That's what makes life interesting."

"Well he's a lot weird. He used to eat Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in the Headmaster's Office like they were candy."

"They are candy."

"What they are is disgusting tastes waiting to happen. And he never spit one out, not once in the seven years he was at Hogwarts. No matter what color they were or flavor!"

Knowing a diversion tactic when he saw it Hugo figured the seed was planted and he'd leave it at that. For now.

So instead he let himself to be drawn into a discussion about all the weird things Al had eaten over the years and whether or not the man had any taste buds so to speak.

)

Hours later, long after Hugo had left him to his thoughts once more having said his piece, Snape decided to leave his room and stretch his legs since he knew that if he dwelled on things much longer his head was going to explode like a popped balloon. Plus Lily was probably worrying over him like crazy wherever she was, and if he didn't leave his room under his own steam she'd no doubt come in and drag him out whether he was willing or not.

Shaking his head at the thought Snape opened his door and stepped into the hallway, turning his head at the sound of another door closing.

It was Honey, the little girl closing the bathroom door before turning to meet his gaze too.

He expected her to shy away, but a thoughtful look was in her eyes as she walked over to stand in front of him.

"Aunt Lily…she said you're sad today cause you went to visit the grave of a friend who died. She said you loved your friend as much as I love my family, and so Bunny and I should be quiet and not bother you till you're feeling better."

When he nodded, what else could he do, she nodded in turn. "My mummy and daddy died. Papa says that when good people die they go to a special place, where you never get hurt and every day is happy. He said I shouldn't be sad they're there, because they're happy and want me to be happy cause they love me. So…you shouldn't be sad either, Mr. Prince, or your friend will be sad."

Having given her opinion on the matter Honey flushed in embarrassment and then hurried towards the stairs, stopping when Snape called out to her.

Catching up to her Snape paused and then held out a hand to her. "These stairs can be dangerous. I'll…help you down them."

Accepting the hand Honey nodded, a small smile curving her lips. "Uncle Hugo falls down them a lot."

"He does indeed."


	19. Severus's Namesake

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Severus's Namesake

Opening the door, Snape stepped out of the house holding the pot in one hand while closing the door with the other. They'd gone through all the thyme they'd had in the lab and so Lily had sent him to the house to retrieve the plant she kept in the kitchen for cooking purposes. The potion they were working on was being finicky, to the point where this was their third time making the damn concoction. Which, since they were both Potion Masters, said quite a lot about the intricacy of what they were working on. Of course they were also going by a stained, scrawled, and poorly translated recipe from a book Hugo had happened to stumble across at a used bookstore he liked to frequent, which didn't help either.

Starting forward Snape's foot didn't touch the stairs leading down the porch as he sensed that he was no longer alone in the immediate area. And since he knew very well that the children were at school and Hugo was at work, it didn't take a genius to know that their guest or guests were uninvited.

Though not terribly bright intruders, he noted, since he could now hear them arguing.

Setting the pot down on the porch without a sound Snape stepped back so that he was against the house, waiting to see what was going on as his hands fisted at the ready.

And then they came into view, a small smile automatically crossing the Slytherin's lips at the sight of Potter and Malfoy arguing and exchanging barbed insults as they walked towards the lab, both obviously mad at the other and not caring who knew it.

It warmed his heart, it really did.

Warmed it right up until the Potter boy framed the Malfoy boy's face between his hands and gave him a heated kiss to stop whatever nasty comment the blonde had been about to make, thus reminding Snape just which Potter and Malfoy he was looking at and the fact that their relationship was quite different from their fathers'.

Now he felt a little sick.

When the snogging finally ended the two men looked at each other for a couple heartbeats before turning their heads in near perfect tandem to look in Snape's direction, their self preservation instincts kicking in, as well as no doubt picking up on the disgusted vibes he was sending in their direction.

Since he didn't want to look like he was spying, Merlin forbid, Snape deliberately turned his attention to retrieving the plant he'd been sent to get and then headed down the porch stairs as the other two men changed direction and started towards him.

He hadn't seen either outside of pictures since they'd been students at Hogwarts, their bloodlines still obvious in their features and form. Both looked so much like their fathers, and yet the closer he got to them the more he could pick up the telling little differences that had nothing to do with age.

This Potter didn't have the lightening scar, but it was more than that. The boy's easygoing personality was there in Lily's emerald green eyes, the relaxed stride, the impishness of his grin. His namesake had never known the hardships and trials his father had faced and it showed.

The current Malfoy was not his father either. There was a strength, a commanding presence to this one that said he possessed an inner strength that meant he bowed to no one's will and would never back down from a fight or threat. And while arrogance was something to be expected from a Malfoy, there was something about the intelligence and cunning in this one's eyes that said he might actually live up to the high opinion he had of himself.

"Hello, Snape, been a while." Albus called over in greeting. "It is you, isn't it? Lily said you look just like Alan Rickman now, and you really do."

Riley had used his school's computer to print off a collection of pictures of this Alan Rickman character at his request, and so he knew what the actor looked like now. He had to admit that he saw the resemblance, but it still annoyed him, these stupid comparisons.

"Potter. Malfoy." Snape said the first name curtly, the second a little nicer.

Albus deliberately curved his lips into a pout. "You know, I'm your namesake, not him. You should be nicer to me."

"And the fact that you would pout is just one of the many reasons he would naturally prefer me to you." Scorpius informed his husband dryly before turning his steely gaze to meet Snape's. "Professor Snape. My father was concerned that you might pose a threat to my children when he couldn't find any background information on you. I informed him as to who you are after I'd made him give his word not to tell my grandfather what I had to tell him. I thought you'd rather not have Lucius paying you a visit." A pause. "Whether my father will seek you out at some later date I couldn't say. He didn't take the news very well."

"I thought he was going to faint or have a heart attack, personally."

Ignoring the Gryffindor Snape nodded his acceptance and silently thanked the other man for not cluing Lucius in to who he was.

Not that he couldn't take the man on, but Lily would no doubt insist on getting involved and that would all but guarantee that things would go horribly wrong.

The woman just loved to stick her nose in his business.

Sensing that he would be left out of the conversation if he didn't keep talking, Albus drew their attention back to him by explaining that they'd come to pick up their kids' stuff, having recovered well enough to assume they could handle taking care of the girls with Riley's help.

"We would have come to get them a couple days ago, but someone decided to give us both food poisoning." Scorpius gave the love of his life a pointed look.

"That was not my fault! I still say we just both overestimated how close we were to recovering. Not even I can screw up toast and scrambled eggs. And really, accusing me of giving us both food poisoning is no way to show gratitude to a man who dragged himself out of his sick bed to try and make us both some bloody breakfast!"

"You were back to normal…right up until two hours after we had breakfast and we both started taking turns throwing up."

Albus gave Snape a confident look before giving Scorpius a superior sneer. "He's just pissy because my immune system is so much better than his is. I rarely get sick, and when I do I get over it pretty fast. In Scorpius's case colds tend to stick around thanks to his inbred, wimpy ass Slytherin genes."

"Do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?"

"Do you want to have to look after yourself until you're a hundred percent again?" Albus shot back, apparently not worried in the slightest about possible punishment.

Scorpius snorted. "Oh please, we both know we're putting Riley in charge of meals until I take over. Anything else I can handle well enough."

"Still arguing about the food poisoning thing, are you?"

The two men both glared in Lily's direction, only now noticing her approach. Snape had seen her coming, but had been too busy watching the fight brewing to acknowledge her.

"I did not give him food poisoning!"

"You do suck in the kitchen."

"I don't want to hear that from the person who once turned all of us blue when she was ten, after deciding it would be funny to test a joke product on us without warning us first!"

"And yet you insisted on letting her look after our children."

"And you deliberately stuck it in your mother's head that she should come here to make sure my sister wasn't experimenting on them behind our backs even though she's promised never to do that without our permission."

While the two bickered like the married couple they were Snape shook his head and then looked down at Lily, who seemed to find the two men funny. And while they were obviously not truly angry with each other, it still begged the question…

"Why did they get married if they fight like this?"

Without missing a beat the two men in question answered in perfect tandem.

"The sex."

Groaning, Snape shook his head. "You'd think by now I'd know not to ask Potters serious questions."

"Yeah, you'd think. Poor, Sev, do you need something for your budding headache?"

"Yes. Time away from the lot of you."

"Awwww, he loves me really, he just hides it well."

All three men knew there was little point in commenting. That would only encourage her.

)

Once it became clear that they weren't going to let her have her fun Lily resigned herself to seeing her brother and brother in law inside to pack up all the kids' stuff as well as giving them two bags worth of frozen food so that Riley or whoever could just heat them up later. The two were grateful for that as well as for the babysitting, promising to make it up to them by taking everyone out to dinner or something as soon as they were both at their best.

Together Lily and Snape saw them off, watching until the other pair disappeared before heading back towards the lab to continue their work.

"Do they always bicker like that?" When she shot him a surprised look Snape found himself elaborating before he could stop himself. "It wouldn't be good for the children, if that's the case."

Eyes going all soft and warm Lily reached out and gave him a smacking kiss on the lips to show how much she appreciated his concern for her nephew and nieces before reassuring him that he had nothing to worry about. Albus and Scorpius did genuinely love each other; they were just opposites in a lot of ways. Thankfully they'd figured out early in their relationship that they had to talk things out regularly, aka bicker with each other, so they'd both understand each other despite their basic differences.

"Which, for men to figure out, shows they're smarter than most of your species."

"I think you mean gender."

"No, species is what I meant. I don't care what anyone says, men and women can't be the same species. You guys are too different, too messed in the head. I refuse to believe we have enough in common to be the same type of humanoid."

Snape just stared for several heartbeats and then decided not to argue. He'd thought that she couldn't possibly be human a number of times after all.

"So anyway, since my brother informs me that Scorpius's father knows about you, I think we should pay a visit to Ollivanders if we don't get this potion to work. I don't think he'd deliberately tell his father about you, and Draco is stronger than he was apparently, but just to be on the safe side I'd rather have you armed, just in case. The Malfoy patriarch is totally the type to curse an unarmed wizard. Or witch." She added, thinking of her mum and a certain diary.

They hadn't gotten him a wand before because he hadn't liked the idea of her blowing more money on him then she had to, aka putting him further in her debt, and because he'd hoped not to be around long enough to need one.

He'd grown up with a Muggle father who'd hated to see magic done around him, so he and his mother hadn't used a lot of magic at home unless absolutely necessary. He could have lived as a Muggle, had he wanted to, and done well enough. Therefore up until now he hadn't really needed a wand, perfectly capable of going about his new, daily life without magical assistance.

But she had a point. The longer he stayed the more likely it was that who he was would get out.

And if old enemies came looking for him, he'd need a wand to protect Lily and Hugo when they tried to come to his defense.

"Fine."

"You aren't going to argue the money issue again?"

"I think I've made you enough money by now to cover the cost."

He had indeed. "So we'll work on our potion, no doubt screw it up again, and then we'll head to Diagon Alley. On the way I can tell you all about how Scorpius and Albus got together in the first place. It all started when my darling brother was knocked off his feet by the second Mrs. Norris, and lost his glasses in the process. He's blind as a bat without them you know. And anyway, Scorpius happened to spot him trying to find his glasses and decided to take advantage of the situation. Typical Slytherin."

"Not another word, Potter."

"But it's terribly romantic, actually."

"Even worse."

Sighing, Lily rolled her eyes but decided to keep her story to herself for the time being. She could always tell him about it the next time she was in the mood to tease him.

)

It had been a long time since he'd paid a visit to Ollivanders, he'd always taken good care of his wand and it had been cremated along with him after he'd passed away. The place looked the same, though the store's owner had obviously aged quite a bit, coming towards them in a chair propelled by magic. But the man's face lit up when he saw Lily's face, his affection for her obvious as he held out his hands to her.

"Lily, my dear, you've gone and blown up another one of my wands, haven't you?"

With a laugh Lily took his hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Nope, not this time. Soon, probably, but not today." With her eyes she conveyed the fact that she was really hoping the man wouldn't clue Snape in as to how many times she'd had to replace her wand over the years. He'd rag her about it for days. "This is my latest assistant, he needs a new wand. My fault." If she didn't take responsibility her friend would think less of Sev, making her pay for him.

Turning his attention to the man Lily had brought with her, the old wand maker studied the younger man with interest, not recognizing him physically, though there was something…yes there was something about this one. "I remember every wand I've ever sold…and I'm usually very good with faces. Have we met before?"

"A very long time ago. Birch, most likely, and my last had a unicorn hair in it."

"I see. Well, wait here, and I'll see what I can find that might be interested in choosing you." A small smirk crossed his lips as his gaze shifted over to Lily for several heartbeats before he whooshed away on his chair, which rose up into the air as needed so that he could get at the wands stacked up high.

While he did so Snape turned his head, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Should I assume you tend to be a hard customer in this particular establishment?"

"Didn't used to be." Moving in close Lily turned her head to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. "It gets progressively harder with every wand I send to its early incineration. I think they talk to each other and know I'm a wand killer."

Doing his best to hide how unnerving he found it when she so casual got in his personal space, Snape frowned at her. "Just how many wands have you gone through?"

"That's classified. If I told you I'd have to kill you."

"Lily."

Recognizing that tone well, she heard it often enough, Lily just shrugged her shoulders. "What? At least half the time it's not even really my fault, I'll have you know. You're proof of that. You've been with me all this time and not once have I had a minor explosion, much less a major one. When I have a capable assistant bad things don't happen. At least not regularly."

"And how regularly did these instances occur when I wasn't around?"

"Hard to say really, especially since there was this one explosion that turned my memories of my twenty second year of life into swiss cheese. I was working on a potion to help improve the memory of the drinker, but something went horribly, horribly wrong. For obvious reasons I don't remember what that something was. Either way I lost a pretty good assistant after that, since he forgot way more and blamed me for it. He tried to sue me too, but as I pointed out he'd signed the liability contract Aunt Hermione makes me make my assistants sign before becoming my assistants. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't remember what happened any better than me, so it could have been completely his fault."

A decided twitch appeared under Snape's eye as he listened to her. Everyone had been making cracks about Lily's habit of blowing herself up since he'd been brought back to life, but he'd thought they were exaggerations for the most part or just referring to earlier incidents when she'd still been learning her current trade and therefore hadn't quite known what she was doing yet.

Apparently not.

"You aren't allowed to work alone in the lab anymore."

Since she loved working with him Lily didn't mind the idea, but her independent nature demanded that she point out to him that he really couldn't stop her, especially since she was technically his boss and not the other way around.

"Seeing as I'm about to get a wand it wouldn't be advisable for you to push me, Potter."

"Please, like THAT'S ever stopped me before."


	20. Reasons To Argue

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the general plot. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Reasons To Argue

Unlike the woman with him Snape was not a wand killer or remotely indecisive when it came to what he wanted. He knew what worked for him and what didn't and ignoring the dark looks Ollivander gave him told the wandmaker just what materials were necessary. The old man didn't argue, he knew a hard headed Slytherin when he saw one, and in the end Snape only had to try four wands before he found his, the wand feeling absolutely right in his hand. And damn but it felt good to hold one again, Snape thought as he pretended that he wasn't aware Lily was paying for the wand. He had to learn to let the little things go where she was concerned, especially now that he had a wand in his possession.

Like all Potters she often inspired an urge to jinx with extreme prejudice.

And come to think of it, since there was no sign that he would be leaving soon, he should really be drawing a proper wage. Technically he should be making more than room and board and was perfectly capable of buying stuff without her doing it for him like she was his mother. He'd have to remember to ask how much she'd paid her past assistants and then haggle with her seeing as he was undoubtedly more skilled and experienced then any of them and therefore deserved more money.

It would be fun, he thought with an inner smile, especially since he knew she enjoyed arguing and haggling as much as your average shopkeeper.

"Ready to go then?"

Turning his attention back to the redheaded menace in question Snape nodded and then fell into step beside her as they headed out, automatically opening the door for her. Once she was through he turned to nod his head in Ollivander's direction and then he followed after Lily, who was waiting for him.

"So that's a pretty big wand you're sporting there, Sev." Lily drawled out as soon as he was beside her again, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at him.

"If you make one comment about compensation I swear I'll lengthen your viperous tongue with this wand and then strangle you with it."

Impressed with the threat, she'd have to remember it for later, Lily just kept on grinning. "Actually, I was going to compliment you Mr. Negativity. These days a man's thumb size isn't considered the real indicator of a man's endowment, but his wand. And that, I have to say, is one of the longest wands I've ever seen."

To her utter astonishment Lily watched as Snape's cheeks flamed with color, the man shocked speechless.

Laughing in delight she framed his face between her hands and gave him a smacking kiss on the lips, completely unaware of the people who were paying her notice just because she was a Potter. "You're adorable, Sev. So very adorable. I could just eat you up."

"Lily…are you trying to kill your father?"

Letting go of Snape Lily turned to look into her mother's eyes, her own full of innocence. "Of course not, Mum, whatever would make you think otherwise?"

"You think he won't hear about this?" This was the first time she'd seen the body currently holding the soul of her former Potions teacher, but Hermione had been quite upset about his resemblance to a Muggle person her sister in law liked and had brought out a picture to show her. So she knew exactly who her daughter had just kissed in public and couldn't only wince over the fact that it was only a matter of time before her husband found out about this.

Everything to do with her children's personal lives interested the Wizarding World unfortunately.

Lily had to admit her mum had a point, but she had one too. "Look at him. Who could resist?"

While she was willing to agree that the man was a great deal more appealing now than he'd been in her teen years, Ginny couldn't say that she had to the urge to give him a kiss, least of all on the lips. Too much history, too many lost points and extra homework just because her crush on Harry had been so bloody obvious.

Though the blushing was a little adorable, Ginny couldn't help but think, not to mention intriguing since she kind of wanted to know what had made the baddass color up in the first place. Then again, knowing her daughter, maybe she didn't.

"Mrs. Potter." Snape said roughly, a hint of mortification in his voice, though he'd managed to school his features into blankness through sheer force of will. Of course she would be around to witness his humiliation. Would probably tell her husband-no, no maybe not that seeing as the Chosen One wasn't likely to take the news well.

He'd just let Harry Potter's daughter kiss him again, Snape acknowledged with another wince, desperately wishing for a hole to fall into.

A little amused to be the one making him squirm, that was definitely a role reversal, Ginny nodded in his direction. "Mr. Prince."

"If you and your demon spawn have something you need to discuss I would be more than happy to vacated the area and get as far away from her as I can. In fact, I'm fine going back to the house on my own and you two can spend the rest of the day together."

Okay, the voice thing was lethal. Ginny could only thank Merlin that he'd never sounded this sexy when he was her teacher. That would have been worse than his teaching.

"So I'm back to being demon spawn again?"

"When did I say you ever stopped?"

Uh oh. Ginny watched the two exchange barbed, yet oddly teasing insults, going back and forth with an ease and familiarity that made it clear that they spent a great deal of time this way. Talking this way. And while nothing they were saying about the other was complimentary she was getting the distinct impression that they were enjoying themselves immensely.

And oh but her baby girl loved older men who were as stubborn and sassy as she was.

What had her husband been thinking, putting these two together? Oh right, he hadn't been. He tended not to when Lily leveled her 'daddy's precious, only baby girl' eyes on him. Lily had that look perfected. Plus he tended to live in denial about the fact that their baby was an adult whenever possible in order to prevent unwanted mental images of his daughter with other men.

"Sorry, Mum, we're ignoring you here. We tend to go on and on unless someone stops us."

"Mostly because I could never run out of insulting things to say about her. Even if I lived to be a thousand." Snape muttered, his arms crossed in front of him as he scowled.

Lily stuck her tongue out in response. "The day you run out of insulting things to say about the world in general…said world will end."

Knowing she couldn't express her worries in front of Snape, she didn't even want to think about how her former teacher would react if she even suggested a romantic relationship between the two, Ginny made a mental note to stop in on Hugo and get her nephew's opinion on the matter. The boy might seem to have his head in the clouds half the time, but he was startlingly observant when it came to human interactions. But for the time being she'd focus on damage control for the sake of her family's wellbeing.

"I think I'll leave you two to your bickering and head on my way. I'm going to drop in on your father and see what time he's getting home for dinner tonight."

"You're on your way to see Daddy? Can you tell him that Sev has a wand now? I can give him the deets if he needs them later. Oh, and that Draco Malfoy now knows who he really is, hence the arming in case the eldest Malfoy finds out too."

"I'll let him know."

"Thanks. Love you muchly."

"Back at you. It's been…nice seeing you again, Sir."

Snape nodded, this being the politest gesture he felt he could make at the moment.

)

Once his former student had left them, thank Merlin, Snape started walking without paying Lily the least amount of attention, determined to ignore her and give her the silent treatment. Which admittedly sounded incredibly juvenile, but she loved to argue so speaking to her in any shape or form would only encourage her to wind him up that much more. Not to mention the fact that half the time he forgot what they'd started arguing about in the first place, thus preventing him from holding the numerous grudges he should probably have at this point.

It was the only logical explanation for why he hadn't incapacitated her yet.

Recognizing the look in his eyes, this wasn't the first time he'd tried to give her the silent treatment, Lily just shrugged and decided to let it go for the moment. There had been something in her mother's eyes earlier, something that made her think that she wasn't the only one who thought Sev was too close to her romantic type for comfort. Not that she thought her mum would blab about that to her dad, who had enough stress as it was, but it was only a matter of time before her mum did something about the situation.

Since she didn't even want to think about how that inevitable conversation would go, Lily decided to people watch instead since Snape wasn't talking to her. And it was because she was doing so that she happened to catch sight of a man two shops ahead of them, the sight bringing an automatic wince to her face.

"Crap. This is not my day."

Catching himself in time to halt his natural inquiry, Snape followed her line of vision to study the younger man with some interest. Too young to be a former classmate or student, late thirties, he judged. Well dressed and returning Lily's gaze with something in his eyes that he personally didn't like one little bit.

"Feel free to jinx him. I'll get you off." Lily muttered just loud enough for him to hear before her lips curved into a polite smile as they converged on the man walking towards them. "Hello, Rupert."

"Lily. Always lovely to see you. Rupert Beaton, pleasure."

Snape stared down at the hand held out to him for one insulting moment before raising his hand to take the other man's in his, his grip firm and brief. "Severus Prince."

"Prince, eh? Then you're from a potion making family. Is that how you and Lily know each other?"

"Exactly." Her naturally urge was to be nasty or barring that give some excuse to leave, but pride kept her in her place and civil. After all, her sharp tongue was one of her biggest faults according to him, Lily thought darkly, pacifying herself with mental images of what would happen if she fed him any number of potions in her possession. It got her through the next ten minutes of small talk, catching up on how their families were doing, how they were doing, and hadn't the weather been unseasonably warm recently.

Even if he hadn't been previously alerted to the fact that Lily didn't like this man he would have figured it out himself easily enough. As it was Snape was at a complete lose as to how Beaton was so completely oblivious to the fact that Lily was currently plotting nasty ways to kill or maim him. It was there in her eyes and voice for anyone with any awareness to see. But she wasn't tearing this moron to pieces verbally and that didn't make the slightest sense to him. It was what she did and she was damn good at it. The man's job didn't give him any power over her or anyone she cared about, and she was never shy about making her dislike known.

He was speaking before he meant to, apologizing for both him and Lily but explaining that they really did need to get back to the lab as they had only come to Diagon Alley to pick him up a new wand so that they could get back to work as soon as possible.

"Ah, I see, I see. Well no problem, hope to see you both again. Lily, Mr. Prince."

Lily and Snape nodded in tandem and then in unplanned synchronization walked around him and continued on their way, the Slytherin making no comment when her hand slipped into his, her cool fingers linking with his.

"What was that?"

"Oh, you're talking to me now? Figures." At the moment she actually wanted to be given the silent treatment, Lily thought as she rolled her eyes. And while it was tempting to refuse to talk about it he would just ask Hugo and Baby would blab anyway. "Former lover. Didn't end well."

"He's too old for you."

"Among other things." But he was welcome to focus and rant about that if he liked.

Since she's stated before that she liked older men Snape knew that hadn't been the reason it had ended badly, or she'd have stopped eyeing men who were far too old for her. Given that the man was still alive and not living in St. Mungos it was safe to speculate that the ass hadn't been abusive towards her. There wasn't a question in his mind that even if she had let him off for that her family wouldn't have and her father was the head of the Aurors, they would have gotten away with it and any person with a brain would know that. But something had obviously gone wrong, and the way she'd behaved was going to stick in his craw until he got some answers. She didn't fear him…but she'd altered her behavior for him and Lily didn't do that for anyone.

What you saw was what you got with her usually.

"Why did you break up?"

"What, jealous, Sev?" Lily asked, thinking to deflect the query with another little spat. "I'm all aflutter."

The dark look he aimed in her direction said he saw straight through her and wasn't dropping the subject.

Blowing out a sound of annoyance, Lily shrugged her shoulders, though it was more of a jerk. "I broke up with him because he wasn't good for me. He's very cunning and skilled at…manipulating people without them realizing what he's doing. Like buying me clothes that were more to his tastes then mine, or choosing things I would like but a size smaller. Saying how nice it would be if my hair were longer so he could play with it, and telling me I should do this or that because I'm Harry Potter's daughter and what I didn't want to reflect badly on him, now did I? When you're barely twenty and in your first real relationship…you don't always see things clearly. But I did catch on all on my own, let's get that straight."

Yes, he did know a thing or two about being twenty and thinking or being stupid. Did he ever. And while he could see the ginormous prat's point when it came to her clothing, he hated how much skin she occasionally showed off for other men to see, there was nothing wrong with her curves or short hair. Both suited her. As or her behavior embarrassing her father, well that was pure poppycock since Potter all but thought his daughter could walk on water. The man was ridiculously proud of all his family, the multiple family pictures everywhere in his office had made that abundantly clear.

But that still didn't answer the question of why she hadn't followed through on the unspoken threats he'd read clearly in her eyes, Snape saying as much.

"I behave civilly around him just because one of the things he threw in my face when we broke up was my so called 'immaturity' and inability to express myself like an adult. That and if we cause a scene someone in my family will hear about it, and go after him."

"I would think you'd find it amusing, watching them make him pay." And they all would, her family often hunting packs since if you messed with one you messed with them all. Gryffindors were big on solidarity too.

"Place too much importance on him. His head's swollen enough as it is."

"I see."

Looking up at him thoughtfully Lily tilted her head to the side in question. "You know, this would normally be the time for you to go into one of your rants about how he's right and there are all sorts of things about me that I should try and change or improve on in order to be considered remotely attractive. Going soft on me, Slytherin?"

"You're the one who's soft. In the head."

Making a happy little sound Lily shifted her hold, cupping their joined hands with her other hand before laying her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Sev."

"I didn't do anything." Painfully aware of the hands holding his so tightly, Sev sighed and made no effort to pull away, hating the warmth that rushed through him over the fact that she would seek comfort from him. Would trust him to support her despite their often turbulent relationship. Why that should please him utterly escaped him at the moment, but he'd ignore that for the time being.

"Right. Of course you didn't. My mistake." A smile on her face Lily rubbed her cheek against the sleeve of his coat in a playfully loving gesture. "Let's go home."


	21. Daddy Dearest

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Daddy Dearest

Lily hugged her pillow against her chest as she sat cross-legged on her bed. She knew logically that she should be turning in for the night, but was self-aware enough to know that even if she tried there was no way she was going to be able to sleep any time soon. Not while her brain was obsessed with wondering why her father was coming to see Sev tomorrow. Why couldn't he have given her at least a clue in the message? And what if Alexei had somehow figured out how to send Sev back to his portrait and had told her dad first because he didn't want to come here because of Hugo? Or maybe Sev had gotten in touch with her dad behind her back and told him he didn't want to stay with her anymore? He'd been less snarky and more quiet since the visit to his grave so maybe he'd been plotting his escape and hadn't wanted her to know.

Which was so unfair, she hadn't even blown him up once yet.

It was also possible that he'd somehow discovered the nightmare alerting machine, she'd expected it to go off a lot after the whole grave visit but it hadn't gone off once since then. She should probably check on it, see if it had been meddled with it. Though if that was the case he had no damn right to up and leave her over that, she'd done if for his own good and leaving her high and dry without him was sure as hell no way to thank her.

Hugging her pillow that much tighter Lily pouted, wanting very much to leave her room and head for the Slytherin's so that she could demand to know if he knew why her father was coming. But freak outs aside she had no idea if he even knew why her dad was coming, Lily reminded herself sternly. Or at least he hadn't said that he did when she'd told him about the impending visit. He hadn't seemed to care one way or another.

That was a good sign, wasn't it? Didn't that mean that he was maybe starting to like living with her and Hugo and was fine with staying? Why wouldn't he be, given the awesome lab she provided him with? She knew Potion Masters that would sell one of their balls to have a potions lab as amazing as hers. Sev should be ridiculously grateful she shared it with him and should want to stay with her forever and ever because they were just that awesome a team and-and-

"Oh shit. I am so screwed." Face planting into the top of her pillow Lily had to accept the fact that she couldn't keep denying how totally gone she was over the hopefully completely obvious Slytherin living in her house.

And giving serious thought to smothering herself into unconsciousness Lily couldn't do it, if only for her lack of patience. She just couldn't keep still that long.

Lifting her head on a gasp for fresh air Lily threw the pillow down on the floor and then did the same to her other pillow, not feeling any better for it. And knowing she wouldn't until she'd spilled her guts and gotten that out of her system Lily got out of bed and headed out into the hallway.

Not being suicidal, she didn't even want to think about what Snape would say if she told him, Lily headed for the stairs that led to the top floor, hoping desperately that Hugo was still up and awake enough to let her vent. If not she'd just wake him up, but that would take time and she really, really needed to bemoan her fate to someone ASAP before she did something stupid like jump Sev in his sleep and demand that he fall hopelessly in love with her whether he liked it or not.

Oh yeah, that would go over so well.

But luck was with her and among the sea of books piled all around his room was Hugo, tucked up in bed with a book in his hand. He was also aware enough to see her coming and had it set aside and had his attention focused on her by the time she'd reached the bed, crawled over to him, and promptly threw herself into his surprised arms on the exclamation that Sev was a big jerk.

"Okay…." The two hadn't been fighting when he'd left them earlier but they did tend to do that more when he wasn't around. "Why is he a big jerk?"

"Because he doesn't love me and he should."

Oh dear, he'd been afraid of this, Hugo thought with a sigh, giving Lily's back a brotherly rub of sympathy before pointing out the obvious. "Lily…I know one can't pick who they fancy, believe me I know, but you have to realize…the logistics are so mindboggling even my brain can't compute them all."

"It's his fault for being perfect for me, not mine. It's all his fault and I hope some fool Muggle mistake's him for Alan Rickman and becomes one of those stalkers that kills his or her victim rather than lets someone else have him."

"That's a little extreme."

"It's that or fall in love with me. Those are his only two choices."

It had to be asked. "Are you going to tell him that those are his only two choices?"

"He'd pick the homicidal stalker."

Fighting back a smile, he was only human after all, Hugo didn't know what to say to that. He was pretty sure that Severus wasn't as indifferent towards Lily as the Slytherin would no doubt like them all to believe, but the man would fight the idea of seeing Lily in a romantic sense tooth and nail. And that was if the man could see her through all the baggage he was carrying around currently.

"He needs to put the past to rest before he can look to the future. If he does stay here, with us, it might be years before he even acknowledges the possibility of viewing you as someone other than a friend." And even that was sort of pushing it for the moment.

"I am so not a patient person."

"I know."

"And Slytherins suck as potential boyfriend/lover material."

He knew that too.

)

Coming down for breakfast Snape was surprised to see Hugo was already down, into the coffee, and that there was no real food laid out on the table. Both Lily and Hugo had bowls of cereal in front of them and the look that the former shot him out of sleepy eyes made it clear that he'd be taking his life into his hands if he commented on that fact. Someone hadn't gotten their sleep, Snape decided as he headed over to the toaster to make some toast for himself. Feeling Hugo's eyes on him Snape glanced in that direction, not sure what to make of the brief look of pity the man sent in his direction before turning his attention back to his beloved caffeine.

Okay…was she angry at him then?

Searching his memory the Slytherin couldn't come up with anything he'd done or said that would keep her up at night. And if she was just punishing him she would have made her and Hugo breakfast and then refused to give him anything but gruel or something equally revolting.

Maybe she was just bitter that neither of them had been able to solve that damn potion recipe Hugo had given them a few days ago. He was getting more than a little frustrated with it himself. That was probably it and she was just being so childish that she thought to punish them all for it.

When the toast popped Snape grabbed the two slices and brought them back to the table to butter and consume. He wasn't one for cereal and the toast would hold him until lunchtime, when Lily would actually have to make real food since apparently her father was dropping by for a visit. Which reminded him, "Hugo, you're not going into work until after lunch, correct?"

Hugo nodded very slowly in agreement. "Yes. Uncle Harry will see I get to work after lunch."

Good, the boy would be around to run interference. It just wasn't in him to be nice to Lily's father for any real length of time and the ruder he was to her father the more likely Lily was to make him pay for it after the man was gone. At least with Hugo around there would be someone he actually didn't mind talking with.

Lily was annoying enough when she was in a good mood. In a bad mood Merlin only knew what would happen.

)

Harry really, really didn't want to talk to his daughter about why she was apparently kissing his former potions teacher. In fact, as far as he was concerned, there were really no words that could begin to capture just how much that idea absolutely horrified him. So he wasn't going to ask her about it, he wasn't even going to mention the fact that his wife had told him what she'd seen and her suspicions that they might have reason to worry given their baby girl's preference for older men with attitude.

There was no need for him to worry either, Harry told himself, especially since his daughter had little in common with her namesake. He might not remember his mum but he'd been told enough stories and seen enough pictures to know that his daughter was not, thank Merlin, Snape's type. The fact that both Lilys had red hair was really the only physical similarity, and personality wise they had just as little in common. So there was nothing to worry about and the worst that could happen was Lily got her feelings bruised and his girl was too tough not to bounce back from that.

So he wasn't going to worry. Dammit.

But he was going to have to see the both of them and could only pray that his too perceptive family members and Snape didn't see his inner turmoil and call him on it. And at least Hugo would be there, Harry reminded himself, knowing he could trust the young man to keep the chatter going and the other two for his sake if necessary.

He'd sent a message to his daughter the night before telling her he'd be dropping by for a visit soon and Lily had suggested he come for lunch. So he would have lunch and tell Snape what he needed to tell him and then he'd go and Merlin willing that would be that.

Unless he saw or heard something that made him think Snape was remotely interested in his baby. Then he'd take advantage of the fact that the other wizard now possessed a wand and challenge the man to a duel then and there.

Smiling a little at the thought Harry pulled out his ring of keys when he reached his daughter's door, letting himself in once he'd found it. Hanging up his coat and putting away his boots Harry headed in search of his youngest on sock feet, opting to check out the kitchen first. He could smell the chicken stew being cooked through the open doorway, which made his eyes narrow ever so slightly behind his glasses since he knew that particular specialty of his daughter's tended to be made when she was in need of comfort food. That and cookies, which he also spotted cooling on a rack as he stepped into the warm room.

"Hey, Daddy. Good timing, the stew's almost done."

Turning his attention to studying his daughter Harry noted the make up she was wearing, which said to him that she thought she needed it since she didn't normally wear the stuff around the house. "Long night, Sweetie?" Wrapping his arms around her from behind he set his chin on top of her head, cuddling her as years of being surrounded by Weasleys had taught him to do.

Working up a smile she used the frustrating potion excuse since she'd overheard Sev asking Baby earlier if that was what had her tail in a knot. Hugo had played dumb of course, she'd sworn him to secrecy, but it had given her an excuse and she was going to use it for as long as that stupid potion continued to give her problems.

"If it's a spell neither of you can figure out maybe you shouldn't make it in the first place. I'm starting to get used to not having people drop by to inform me there's been another explosion here. In fact, a number of those people thought you were on holiday somewhere and were shocked dumb when I told them that wasn't the case."

"This is a record for me." Lily agreed, trying to keep her voice normal. "Which is why you should let me keep Sev. Think of all the grey hairs he's saving you."

More like causing them for an entirely different reason, Harry thought darkly.

Not liking the silence that greeted that statement, Lily's fingers clenched around the large spoon she was stirring the stew with. But before she could ask if he had come to tell her he was taking Sev away from her the man in question came into the kitchen to ask when lunch was going to be ready after stiffly acknowledging her father's presence. When she told him to go wash up he nodded and then went to do that and retrieve Hugo from his room.

Letting her go Harry asked if there was anything he could do to help, Lily putting him to work cutting up the fresh loaf of bread she'd made to go with the stew while she dished up the stew and brought them over to the table Hugo had set for her earlier.

By the time those chores were done and everyone was sitting down Lily couldn't wait a second later and asked her father what news he had for them.

Harry was a little taken aback by the suddenness of her question, but his baby had never been particular patient when it came to anything not related to her potions. "It's in regards to Justin Prince's mother." He began, not sure what to make of the relief that came over his daughter's face. It distracted him until Hugo stated that he hadn't been aware that the man's mother was still alive in a subtle reminder to his uncle that he needed to keep talking.

"That's not surprising as she's been a private care facility since you were a boy." Harry answered after giving the younger man a grateful look. "She suffers from some sort of neurological disease that has greatly affected her ability to differentiate between the past and the present. Her son put her in the facility when she proved too apt at escaping the caregiver he hired for her originally. She's gotten progressively worse over the years according to her healers but she's been having enough good days this past week and a half that she remembers she has a son and wants to see him. The facility contacted me and I went there yesterday to explain things to her and she wants to speak to you, Snape."

Snape was about to ask why his mother's cousin hadn't simply been given some excuse for her son's absence when he remembered the woman personality and sharpness from brief visits when he'd been young. She'd been fine mentally then, the large age gap between his mother and her cousin such that the two had never been close or gotten along. But he remembered Priscilla Prince having plenty of bad things to say about his father to his mother's face and be deadly accurate in her portrayal.

Trying to bullshit that woman probably wouldn't go over well, Snape thought with a small smirk.

Lily frowned. "Why does she want to talk to him? It's not his fault, what her idiot son tried to do."

"Honestly, I don't know. I made it clear to her that we've been investigating possible ways to undo what Prince did, but I also made it clear that if something doesn't break soon we're going to have to give up and accept the facts. Because unless things change naturally I think you're stuck in Prince's body for the rest of the man's lifespan, Snape. Dolohov's got no ideas and none of you do either according to the last update you guys sent me."

While the others processed this in silence Hugo asked the most obvious question to him. "So if that's the case he can stay here with us, right?"

All eyes on him Harry met Snape's directly. "It's his life. Severus Snape has been exonerated of all charges that were brought against him in the past and as such is a free man with all the rights of a citizen of this country. I've talked to the higher up and if things stay the same by the end of this month, that body is yours to do with what you will."

"And he'll stay with us, right? You'll stay…we can be partners instead of you being my assistant. I'll give you a raise and…and…if you leave who will help me keep Hugo in one piece? You're always saying I need to take better care of him." Lily finished lamely, wary of saying too much as she tried to hide how worried she was that he might leave them. Her.

Having turned his head to look in her direction at the beginning of her rant Snape blinked at the look on both her and Hugo's faces as they stared at him, obviously awaiting his reply with bated breath. They truly wanted him to stay with him, he realized with bone deep shock. They were upset at the idea that he would leave them.

Never before…had he had ANYONE make him feel that their life would be negatively affected if he wasn't in it, and now he had two.

And it was the shock of that knowledge, and the way it made him feel, that had him stating without thinking that he would be staying.

Harry just gaped at the group hug that followed his former teacher's words.


	22. Man To Man Talk

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Man To Man Talk

After lunch was over Harry said good bye to his daughter and nephew before asking Snape to walk him down the lane. It was no surprise when the younger generation volunteered to come too, but Harry made it clear that he wanted to talk to Snape alone about something and he expected them to stay put or else. What their punishment would be was left up in the air, but the two knew better than to push when the man used that particular tone of voice. Granddad Weasley had taught him well.

Snape, for his part, agreed simply because he didn't want to seem afraid to face his former student alone. Plus it had to be something worth hearing and important for the Gryffindor to actually put his foot down where his daughter was concerned. Normally Potter seemed quite content to let his offspring run amok to their hearts' content.

So off they went, Harry waiting until they were out of earshot of the other two before speaking in a low voice meant for Snape's ears alone. "I thought there might be a thing or two you want to say to me."

Caught completely off-guard by the simple statement Snape tried to think of what the man might be referring to, the first possibility that sprang to mind causing the Slytherin's cheeks to redden just a little as he informed the other man that it was in no way his fault that Lily was so affectionate towards him and he did absolutely nothing to encourage her.

Harry couldn't help but wince. "I wasn't referring to that. I prefer to remain in the dark there, thank you very much. I'll leave the thrashing to my sons if necessary. Telling her not to be affectionate would only make her that much determined to do it as it is."

"If they're going to thrash anyone it should be that Beaton bastard."

Now the man's emerald eyes narrowed. "He's been bothering her again?"

"If he had don't you think you'd have his missing person's report by now?" Snape resorted, immediately regretting the statement since it made it clear that he would break laws to keep Lily safe and protected from a world that too often destroyed the innocent and beautiful.

"Good to know." He was still sorry he hadn't been able to do more than verbally tear into the gobshite who'd hurt his little girl. She was so stubborn, just like her mother. Telling her not to do something or date someone tended to make her do the opposite just to make it clear she was the boss of herself. She'd always been the type who needed to learn from experience.

Not wanting to talk about Lily if he didn't have to Snape asked Harry what he had been referring to before.

"Oh…Lily said that you…had asked to visit your own grave. I thought you'd have something to say about that."

Ah. That did make sense. Although…. "Hugo didn't put you up to this, did he?"

Harry shook his head. "He told you to talk to me?" That didn't surprise him, Hugo was remarkably in touch with his feelings for a man. The boy regularly told people that if they'd just use their words more the world would be a much happier place.

"What's the real reason you placed my ashes there, under that marker?" He knew what Lily believed had been her father's motives-but he would hear it from the man himself.

Silence, and then Harry began to speak, to try and explain.

"I don't really know you. I know pieces of you-and even a lot of that I can't be sure of. That I wasn't-that I'm not still just seeing what you want me to see. At the end of the day there are really only two things that I can say I know about you that are absolutely, one hundred percent true. The first is that you were a bloody awful teacher who should not have been allowed to teach…and that you loved my mother."

"You believe that because of the memories I showed you."

"I believe that because I probably wouldn't be alive today if not for you. The very sight of me had to have been-still might be a slap to your face every time. But you protected me for her, loved her enough to do that." Harry rubbed the back of his neck in a combination of embarrassment and frustration, wishing he had better words. A better way of saying this that required him to say as little as possible.

"You know nothing."

He wasn't surprised by the statement, or how quickly his temper still flared so quickly to life during any prolong exposure to his former potions teacher. And though he told himself that he was too old at this point to let Snape's sarcastic, condescending, grating and insulting personality and words get to him…

"Why they want you to stay with them is beyond me."

Snape gave Harry the look he'd always given the Gryffindor during class that said he thought Harry was being a particularly clueless idiot that day. "Hugo is too damn nice and your daughter is crazy."

"She is not crazy!"

"Twenty galleons says I'm far from the first to tell you that she is."

"Hah, you don't have twenty galleons! Unless you want to go ask my CRAZY daughter to loan you some money, that is!"

Glaring at each other neither moved, rooted in place since they both felt that doing so would mean the other had won. So they stood there and stood there until Lily, who hadn't been able to wait another minute for Snape to come back, came marching over and standing between them demanded to know why the heck they were just standing there like two glaring bumps on a log.

"He insulted you and I'm waiting for an apology."

Harry regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, even before Lily's eyes went wide with hurt as she met his gaze and then turned to look at Snape.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing you wouldn't agree with." Was the Slytherin's defensive response, not liking the look in her eye one little bit. "And why are you acting so weird? Normally you'd shrug off your father saying I'd insulted you."

Harry hated to admit it, but the man did have a valid point there.

Rather than answer, Lily glared at both of them and then stomped off without a backward glance.

Together Snape and Harry watched her go and then turned to look at each other, their eyes conveying that they blamed the other for the new situation they found themselves in.

When he couldn't stand just staring at Harry any more, which didn't take long at all, Snape gave the Gryffindor one last sneer before he started to follow Lily back towards the house.

"Scorpius."

Turning to look over his shoulder Snape didn't say anything, his eyes conveying the fact that he'd found Harry throwing out Draco's son's name to be completely random.

"Professor Dumbledore told me in my first year that Malfoy and I reminded him of you and my dad. So I know, to some extent, what it was like for you to feel like you had to look after me even when it was the last thing either of us wanted you to do. Scorpius looks just like Draco, and has a personality that can make him very-very hard to get along with, much less love. But my son loves him-so I would die for him. So yeah…I DO know."

And on that note Harry walked away, Snape watching the man until he'd disappeared from sight.

)

When Snape arrived back at the house it was to find Hugo waiting for him, the young man wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression on his usually happy face. Hugo's arms were crossed in front of him and the Gryffindor wasted no time at all in informing him that he needed to go to Lily's room and apologize for whatever he'd said that had upset her. The Gryffindor wouldn't even let him explain that he'd done absolutely nothing he needed to apologize for, Hugo using his cuteness powers to look both stern, disappointed in him, and strangely adorable all at the same time.

Only Hugo, Snape mentally groaned, admitting defeat without even trying to argue his innocence a second time. What would be the point?

So off he went to find Harry's daughter since at least talking to her would take his mind off the Gryffindor's parting shot. Because dammit, he couldn't argue with the man's logic and analyzing what lay under his instinctual dislike for James Potter's offspring made both his stomach and head hurt. He preferred to think of Harry as the son of Potter or Lily, not as a person in his own right. Things got messy and complicated otherwise.

Knocking on her door before entering, he did not want to see her in a state of undress ever-okay he sort of did, but was trying to ignore those thoughts because if they kept coming he was going to have to use his new wand to erase his own memories.

Not getting a response Snape debated just leaving, but he knew Hugo too well to think the human cocker spaniel would let him get away with that. So he sighed like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and let himself in, terribly grateful to find that she was hiding under the covers and wasn't making any sounds that would suggest she was crying. Crying was not something he was willing to deal with.

"Lily?"

"Go away."

"Hugo says otherwise."

Her response was muffled by the sheets and quilt this time, but Snape was pretty sure she'd just called him a baby who was afraid of a baby.

"I'm not afraid of him. Only an idiot would be afraid of him. I simply don't want to live with two upset Gryffindors. Your kind is bad enough normally."

Pushing aside the covers Lily sat up and glared at him. "Well if we're so horrible you shouldn't have said you wanted to stay with us. Now go away before I take out my wand and blast you with it for saying horrible things about me even though I've been very nice to you-mostly."

"I didn't say horrible things, you twit. I just said you were crazy."

"What? THAT'S what you said?" Lily's jaw dropped, the hurt anger leaving her face completely. "You let me think you'd said horrible things about me when all you said was that I was crazy? That's not horrible, even I know I'm a little crazy. All interesting people are at one time or another. Why the hell did you let me think you really don't like me?"

"You're the one who misunderstood!" Snape charged, not even realizing the fact that he'd just confirmed that he really only pretended to dislike her a lot of the time.

"Don't blame this on me! Typical man!" Getting out of bed Lily marched over to Snape and poked a threatening finger into the Slytherin's chest, not revealing for a moment how happy his words had made her. "And just for this you have to take me with you when you go and see your mother's cousin. I won't forgive you otherwise!"

"I am not taking you with me."

"Oh yes you are, Mister!"

Leaning forward Snape looked her dead in the eye. "I don't take orders from you, Miss. Potter."

"We'll just see about that."

)

The woman was a menace. A short, curvy menace who'd spent years getting her own way because she was Harry Potter's daughter and because people understandably feared what the evil little witch would do to them if they didn't. He had tried to set a new precedent, to get it through her red head that she was not the ruler of all she surveyed and therefore couldn't tell him what to do, but she'd refused to listen to him. She was the living definition of selective hearing and she absolutely drove him up the wall.

Especially when she was wearing a bra that damn well wasn't doing its job, the Slytherin mentally added, forcing himself not to groan. If she was wearing a bra, Snape tacked on while trying desperately not to pay attention to the way her breasts were moving under the clingy top she was currently wearing.

"Quit bouncing like you're Bunny."

Ignoring him as she looked over the building they were about to enter Lily kept right on moving to her own beat. "I can't help being excited, Sev, so quiet. I've never met a member of your family before."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you have. Everyone's related to someone in some way in the Wizarding World. Unless they're a Muggleborn." He acknowledged, doing his best not to keep his gaze straight ahead and not on her bouncing breasts. "And if you can't behave I'm sending you home."

Lily just pffted that and rolled her eyes right back at him. "So grumpy."

Why Merlin, why? Why couldn't the fates cut him even just a little slack? Or at the least magically conjure up a jacket for her to wear since she'd already refused his.

Ignoring his crappy attitude Lily headed straight for the front desk and started up a chat with the woman manning it, explaining that they were there to see Pricilla Prince. Apparently Lily had contacted the center already, they were expected and cleared through immediately.

So she was a little handy to have around at times, Snape silently admitted as he followed after her. But only in the capacity that she could talk to people so that he didn't have to. That was it.

"Melly said that your whatever she technically is-is there a title for someone who's your mother's cousin? I've never thought about it before." When he gave her the look Lily dropped that line of questioning, she'd ask Hugo about it later, and instead informed him that the woman they'd come to see was doing particularly well and was looking forward to their visit quite a bit, apparently.

"That's not necessarily a good thing."

"What? You think she's going to throw a bed pan at you or something? She's a little old lady, Sev. She's even OLDER than you are."

Snape stopped in his tracks and glared down at her. "And just what is that supposed to mean, Potter?"

"It means that technically you're old enough to be a grandpa, so she's old enough to be a great grandma. She probably longs for the days when she had the strength to throw things at people." Personally she couldn't imagine how frustrating and annoying it was going to be when she got to be that age. It made her want to start throwing things at people while she still could.

Unaware of what she was thinking Snape continued to scowl as he informed her that he was NOT old.

"Technically you are. Though they do say that you're only as old as you feel. How old do you feel?"

"Right now all I feel is the desire to do the world a service and rid it of you."

"Ah, you're forgetting that I'm half Weasley, Sev. There are plenty more where I came from."

The truth of that statement was so depressing Snape couldn't think of anything to say in retaliation.

Patting his shoulder in mock sympathy Lily hooked her arm through his and started propelling them forward once more, doing her best not to grin too widely over the fact that he was letting her. The only reason he'd let her come with him was because she'd nagged him into it-and threatened to come without him-but he wasn't being nearly as nasty about it as he could be. As he would have been when he'd first come to live with her and Hugo.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing."

In his opinion nothing good could come from her smiling so happily and Snape gave Lily his full attention all the way to his relative's assigned room, wanting to make sure he was prepared for anything she might intend to pull. But she did nothing out of the ordinary as she politely knocked on the door, walking in with him once they were told that they could enter.

It was startling to see so much of his mother in this woman's face, especially since his mother had died relatively young. Pricilla hair had gone white and the lines on her face betrayed her age, but otherwise she looked far too healthy and strong to be in a nursing home. But then the weakness was in her mind, not her body, Snape thought as they walked over to her, watching him with eyes that studied him so carefully.

"So this is what my son actually looked like. I haven't truly seen him in over twenty years." A sigh ended that statement before Pricilla focused on Snape's face. "Hello, Severus."

"Pricilla."

"And you are Lily Potter. The Chosen One's youngest. I recognize you from the papers…my son was not a fan of yours."

"That was entirely mutual." Lily assured her cheerfully, sensing that this was a no nonsense, see and say it like it was sort. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Prince."

Taking the hand offered her Pricilla shook it, thinking that the girl who'd come in with her arm through Severus's had obviously been put into Gryffindor for a reason. Trouble to the bone, this one, and a redhead on top of it. But Severus had always had a weakness for redheads as she recalled, and wouldn't it be a kick in the pants if the two were a couple.

"We brought you lilacs, Severus remembered that you had a lot of them growing around your house. I'll just conjure up a vase while you two chat." Lily smiled at her and then gave Snape a look that made it clear he needed to pull up a seat and start chatting with his relative.

He scowled back at her in response as he took a seat.


	23. Lots of Surprises

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.

Lots of Surprises

Despite the fact that she hadn't been around her cousin's only child in decades, Pricilla Prince remembered enough about the boy to know that he wouldn't appreciate some long winded explanation or be interested in having a family reunion of sorts. Family had always taken second place to being Potion Masters in their family, children a means to continue on the family legacy and research when necessary. Her relationship with her own son had been better than a lot of other parent/child relationships in her line, but in the end he'd ended up only caring about potions and making a name for himself. A Prince was either very strong willed or a weakling, with very few falling anywhere in between. Her son had always been weak, looking for the easy way out, and Severus…well he'd started out on the weaker end and then tragedy had forged him a spine that made all of them look weak by comparison.

She'd been strong once, in both personality and in mind. It was time to show that she was still the former even if the latter was rarely true these days.

"The Chosen One explained to me what happened and I want you to know that I'll make arrangements to have Justin declared legally dead. His will states that if I'm still alive when he passes all his money is to go to me to see to my care until my death. At that point the money was supposed to be donated to various causes, most likely because he liked the idea of being memorialized that way. I don't need his money, his father and I both worked hard and earned a good living, so I intend to see to it that Justin's money goes to you, Severus. You'll need something to live off of and you're family."

"Pricilla…" Snape had no idea what to say, staring at her blankly.

"You and your mother got slighted inheritance wise by our grandparents because she married your father." She told him bluntly, not mincing words. "I would have seen that you got your fair share after Grandfather died if not for you being stupid enough to join the Death Eaters and disgrace us all in the process, but you've redeemed yourself and so it's only fair that you get your share now. Justin can't use it so you should have it."

Since the lone male in the room looked stunned speechless Lily asked Pricilla if she was in any way related to Andromeda Black Tonks.

"Distantly, yes. We were in Slytherin together as well, though she was ahead of me by a couple years." There was a knowing look in Pricilla's eyes now, like she knew why Lily had asked the question in the first place.

"You're fine with me having both his body AND his money?" Snape's voice was skeptical, though damn if he could see how this would benefit her in any way.

"Someone is dead because of Justin. Even if he were to regain control over his body he'd be sent to prison for that, and he would not survive that sort of existence. I know my son better than anyone, and I make no excuses for his behaviour and acknowledge that he should be punished for what he did. Your will to live and survive far exceeds his, and so I know in my heart his body now belongs to you. Money is just money, I imagine you'll put what you're given to good use."

He heard her, but Snape still didn't know what to say or how to respond. Intellectually he knew that she was right, he had pretty much resigned himself to living another lifetime for however long it lasted, and it truly was only fair that he get his share of the family inheritance he'd been denied before because of who his father was. He knew how much his cousins had been given when his grandfather had passed, they'd made sure of it, and depending on how much Pricilla's son had already spent…

As though she could read his mind Pricilla informed him that she'd arranged for her son to receive the money that came from a number of patents she and her husband had owned from their potion making days, and then told him how much he could expect yearly from those.

Eyes going wide Lily's mind processed the amount and did some quick figuring in her head, her excellent math skills informing her that Snape could quite easily live off the yearly revenue those patents would provide. Snape wouldn't need to live with her and Hugo, and after a few years could possibly even save up enough money that he could easily finance a lab that wouldn't be as good as hers but certainly would be nothing to sneeze at.

"It will take some doing to get through all the red tape, especially since I'm not often in my right mind so to speak, but Mr. Potter assured me that he'll see about helping me and I don't imagine people say no to the Chosen One very often." The old woman's eyes flickered over to Lily's. "He was very kind, your father, he brought me the flowers on the window there."

The look in the other woman's eyes was what jerked Lily's mind back into working order, seeing beyond her own selfish thoughts to what this meant to the other two people in the room. Snape had to be full of different emotions, especially since this was unexpected. And the woman in the bed, her world already so chaotic and beyond her control, to have to say these things, to acknowledge that her son was dead even though his body sat across from her… Pricilla Prince didn't get any regular visits from anyone except her son apparently, the odd friend or distant family member dropping in occasionally. And now she knew that she wasn't likely to ever see that son again.

Moving on impulse Lily took Pricilla's hand in hers, giving it the gentlest of squeezes. "Severus and I will come to visit you here and I'll bring my cousin Hugo sometimes too. You'll love him, everyone does. I'm sure he'd love to meet you, and you and I and Sev can talk potions to our hearts' content."

Having had enough time to process the initial shock Snape clued into why Lily would be making that promise for them, seeing the painful hope in his relative's eyes as she understood that she wouldn't be left alone in this place without someone who cared enough to check on her regularly. Even at her worst she would know when she was alone and when she had company.

"We'll talk potions." He agreed, fairly sure that that was all he and the old woman would ever have to talk about. But that would be enough it seemed, the gratitude in her eyes plain to see.

And so that's what they did for the rest of the visit, all three of them enjoying the chance to argue and discuss their trade with people who knew it just as well.

)

They stayed until Pricilla started to tire out, Snape ridiculously grateful when Lily announced that they should be going, the girl fussing over his relative like Pricilla was related to her instead. Once the older woman was all tucked in to Lily's satisfaction she promised that they'd come again soon and then took Snape's hand, leading him out of the room. As his mind was still in turmoil he made no move to free his hand, it only dawning on him minutes later as they exited the building, Lily's quietness tipping him off that something was very wrong.

"What's wrong with you?"

When Lily didn't answer he repeated the question, jerking hard on her hand to get her attention.

After getting him to repeat the question a third time Lily just shrugged her shoulders and told him that nothing was wrong.

"Please. I believe I've known you long enough to know when something's wrong with you. Or should I say more wrong with you than normal. Now just tell me what is going on in that twisted little mind of yours so that it can be fixed before you make things even more complicated. You'll save us both migraines in the future."

"I give you migraines?"

The look Snape gave her made it clear he thought that was a seriously dimwitted question.

"I'm sorry."

A chill rolling down his spine at the apology, the tone of voice almost childish, Snape couldn't begin to guess at what she'd done to feel she had to apologize to him, but the fact that she was acting this way made him that that whatever she'd done it was bad. Very, very bad.

Jerking his hand out of hers Snape spun her to face him and then put his hands on her shoulders, fingers digging in just enough to insure she wasn't going anywhere as he lowered his head so that they were nearly eye to eye. "That's it, what have you done? You tell me right this instant, Lily, or else."

Even in the mood she was in Lily couldn't help but ask what 'or else' referred to.

Falling back on tradition Snape informed her that if she didn't hurry up and explain herself he'd turn her over his knee and give her the spanking she'd had coming to her for years.

Needless to say he wasn't sure how to interpret the look that came into her eyes then, though the way it made the muscles in his stomach clench had him pretty sure that it would be for the best if she didn't look at him that way ever again. And wanting her to stop it Snape repeated his order for her to explain herself with due haste if she knew what was good for her.

"I…I just don't want…you to go."

"What?"

"You'll have money now, when Mrs. Prince gets all the paperwork in order. You won't have to live with Hugo and I anymore." And without even meaning to do it Lily proved that she really was Hugo's cousin and used her big brown eyes to turn him into mush.

"Did I say that I would stay with you depending on my financial status?"

"No."

"Then what are you talking about?"

Brows knitting together Lily studied his face closely. "You're going to stay? You're going to stay!"

"Oof!"

His arms suddenly full of happy female Snape froze in surprise, not sure what to think or do as he got the hugging of his life. He'd thought the joint hug between the two of them and Hugo had been overdone, but this was likely to bruise his ribs. "What is wrong with you, Woman?"

"According to you too many things to count." Her head on his shoulder Lily grinned and just held on, intending to stay right where she was until he insulted her into letting him go or her arms got tired. Whichever came first.

As her grip was tight enough that he'd have to be rough to get loose, Snape opted to take this moment to state that since he was apparently going to be coming into some money in the near future she better start getting into the habit of referring to him as her lab partner instead of assistant. That phase of their relationship was over and he would take on work he wanted to do and would share in expenses etc etc.

Drawing back a little Lily's grin lit up her whole face, the beauty of her inner self shining through so that she was absolutely stunning as she made another sound of glee. "We're partners now? Wahoo!"

More hugging.

"I don't understand you."

"Of course you don't. You're a man. You aren't allowed to get me, it's in the rule book."

Scoffing at that Snape was equally sure that there was no rule book and if there was then women had no right to complain about the fact that men were too stupid to understand them. Of course that made some sense, the Slytherin observed nastily, since few things in this world were more contradictory than her.

"You like me. You want to be my partner."

"Don't twist my words. I'm merely sticking around for the food and Hugo's company." He was willing to admit that he enjoyed the other man's company, but it was going to take a lot more than the accursed puppy dog eyes she seemed to be developing to convince him to even entertain the idea of admitting that he found the chaos she brought to his life remotely enjoyable.

Lips curving knowingly Lily let him go so that she could poke him in the chest. "It might take me years, Severus Snape, but eventually I will get you to admit that you like me."

"Go on believing that if you wish. You're half Weasley, wasting your time on useless endeavors is what you do."

"Ohhhhh, burn! That one hurt."

Laughing at him Lily took his hand again before he could stop her, swinging it merrily as she announced that they better be heading home so that she'd have plenty of time to cook him a dinner that would convince him he'd made the right decision.

The women in his life were always such menaces, Snape mentally sighed as he let himself be led down the path Lily had chosen to follow. Poor, poor him.

)

It was certainly his day for surprises, Snape thought an hour later as he opened the front door and found himself staring into the face of a grown up George Weasley. The man who was missing an ear because of him, Snape knew, though that hadn't been his intention. He knew that the other man had also lost his twin brother in the battle for Hogwarts, something that would have devastated the freckle-faced menace given the bond between the two. Both of them had been a pain in the arse to teach, the Weasley twins gifted when it came to potion-making even though they had rarely applied themselves unless it involved their joke products.

It was better that he focus on how annoying the redheads had been…instead of what had become of the duo.

"Are you here for Lily or Hugo?"

"My darling niece, though I'm always happy to see Hugo too. Who isn't?" George Weasley held out his hand, his smile real enough, though lacking the impish devilry Snape recalled well from the man's youth. "How's it going, Professor?"

Given the tightknit bond between the Weasleys he'd known that this particular member of the family would hear about who he was eventually. How the other man would react, well he hadn't wasted much of his time speculating about that. Trying to predict the crazy workings of a Weasley mind would have only given him a headache. But still…he had not expected this.

Not taking the hand in case that was a trap Snape simply nodded his head. "Mr. Weasley. Come in."

Dropping his hand back to his side George chuckled as he walked past Snape and into the house, turning back around to face his former potions' teacher once he was inside. "You know me too well."

"My body died, not my memory of all the 'fun' you tried to bring to my classes."

"Hey, you needed all the help you could get in that area, Professor Snape. Fred used to say that…that we were the most exciting things in your life and that it was our duty to…to spare the other children from being sucked into your gloomy vortex."

Normally he'd have said something disparaging and insulting against Fred Weasley, it was his nature and it wasn't like he didn't have years worth of material to throw back in the remaining twin's face to prove his point, but still…he knew what it was to lose someone who meant more to you than your life. And George Weasley was a lot less skilled at hiding what that loss did to you than he'd been.

"Lily's in the kitchen cooking dinner. I assume you know the way."

"I do." George agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he feigned his normal persona. "And I imagine you intend to go off somewhere now to brood and spread your gloominess throughout the land?"

"Someone has to keep your niece and nephew grounded and out of trouble, and as always you Weasleys have proven unequal to the task. I'm going upstairs to check on Hugo to make sure he hasn't gotten caught in a book avalanche again." Lily had told him about that happening in the past, and he'd been having nightmares about it ever since.

"He got to you too, huh? Should have figured."

Rather than answer Snape headed for the stairs that would lead up to the next floor, not bothering to turn around when his name was called out. "Yes?"

"Thanks for taking my ear off instead of my whole head."

Lips curving ever so slightly Snape turned so that he was facing George, who was looking up at him.

"Actually, I've always regretted removing your ear, Mr. Weasley."

George's suspicion was written all over his face. "Oh?"

"Indeed. You had a hard enough time listening when you had two ears. Merlin only knows how much more irritating you are now with only one."

Continuing up to the stairs to the sound of George's laughter Snape allowed himself to smile a bit wider as he walked down the hallway to the door that led up to the third floor and Hugo's quarters. Opening the door he headed up the short flight of stairs, stopping halfway up to announce his presence.

"Come on up!"

Doing precisely that Snape could only shake his head when he was finally in the other man's room, absolutely surrounded by books that he could easily see tipping over and burying Hugo underneath them. There were so many books he wasn't entirely sure how Hugo managed to maneuver around them in the morning when the boy wasn't even half awake yet.

"I thought you said you were going to organize your books so that there wasn't a risk of an avalanche."

"I did. You can't tell?"

"No."

"Oh…huh."


	24. An Explosive Development

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

For Sammy and Naynay!

An Explosive Development

Snape opted to hang out with Hugo for a while, though eventually the boy did want to go down and see his uncle before the other man left. And not wanting to give the impression that he was in any way afraid to deal with his former student, he'd go to his second grave laughing first, Snape went down with Hugo but left the majority of the talking to the two Weasleys and Lily. Thankfully it was almost time for dinner, which meant that George didn't stay long. Long enough to annoy, naturally, but that was a Weasley for you.

Hugo was special in that and so many other ways, Snape thought in silent amusement as he hung back while the other two saw their uncle to the door.

Once they came back in it was time to eat, Hugo interested to hear more about Snape's visit with his aunt and when they'd be going to see her again as he'd be delighted to meet her. He loved meeting new people, especially ones that could tell them all sorts of stories about what Snape had been like as a boy.

Lily, who hadn't thought of that, cursed the missed opportunity while Snape thanked Merlin for it.

From there their conversation switched over to a variety of topics, Hugo and Lily always happy to talk and Snape fine with that since it meant he didn't have to say much of anything unless Lily was provoking him or Hugo wanted his opinion on something. The food made up for any irritation on Snape's part, especially since Lily had gone all out tonight in another bid, possibly, to remind him that he'd made the right choice in deciding to stay with her and Hugo. She was cunning that way.

After dinner it was Hugo's turn to worry about the dishes, the Gryffindor shooing them out of the kitchen after they'd helped bring everything in, telling them to go do whatever while he took care of everything else.

Amused as she watched him turn on the radio and started filling the sink, Lily shook her head fondly before turning her attention to Snape, who was in the process of leaving the room. "Just a heads up, the lab won't be available tomorrow. I'm working on something."

Raising an eyebrow at her statement, especially since they were partners now, Snape already knew he'd regret asking as he inquired as to just why he wouldn't be allowed inside THEIR lab tomorrow.

"It's safer for you if you aren't in there." She'd allowed other assistants to be in the lab while she was brewing this particular potion, but Sev wasn't just any old assistant. He was her partner, and she'd never forgive herself if she accidentally killed or seriously maimed him. Not that she wouldn't have felt bad if that had happened to one of her former employees, Lily thought as she gave him her sunniest smile, but she hadn't loved any of them. Plus Sev was never going to fall in love with her if she blew him up unnecessarily.

Eyes narrowed and focused completely on her face, Snape demanded to know what she was planning to brew.

"Oh, it's an original Weasley invention."

Not being an idiot Snape could put two and two together. "That's why your uncle dropped in earlier, isn't it?" When she nodded the man's tone noticeably sharpened. "He thinks nothing of asking you to create potions that could potentially harm you?"

"Uhm, Sev, most potions have harmful elements to them. And Uncle George would have made the potion himself if he was allowed to, but he's not since Aunt Angelina banned him from ever making it again. Because of the structural damage, they live above the shop you see." Lily hastened to assure him that there was nothing to worry about, leaving out the few times her uncle had had to pay a visit to St. Mungos because he wasn't nearly as accomplished as she was when it came to potion making.

"How dangerous is this potion?"

Lily considered how to answer that, settling for the meant to be reassuring statement that she'd made far more dangerous potions and lived to tell the tale, obviously.

"I'm going to supervise you tomorrow."

Annoyed by the insinuation that she couldn't be trusted not to blow them all to kingdom come, Lily was about to shove her many dangerous successful past potions down his throat when it occurred to her that he was, whether he realized it or not, showing concern for her well being. It couldn't be the lab he was worried about, he'd soon have the money to build his own if he wanted to. And no one would blame him if she blew herself up, they would know it was her own damn fault and her habit, in all honesty. She was on a streak for avoiding personal injury while working, but that was bound to end sooner as opposed to later. Really, she was due at this point. So this was Sev saying he cared whether she got blown up or not.

Okay, he did not like the look on her face. She should never, ever smile at him like that again, Snape decided, glaring at her reflexively since he didn't know how else to respond. Smiles like that short circuited his brain.

"If it will make you feel better you can come with me tomorrow."

Scowling, he didn't like the way she's phrased that either, Snape was oh so tempted to state that he didn't care if she went and blew herself up, and that in fact she could be his guest. But the words refused to come out, a small voice in his head pointing out that she'd know he didn't mean them anyway.

"It's settled then." Still smiling Lily moved in and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek before he could sense her intent and evade. "I'm going to start working on it tonight, it doesn't get problematic until the second half I'll start tomorrow. If I'm not back before you turn in, good night!"

Making her getaway, her mum hadn't raised no fool, Lily laughed as she heard him cursing her as she slipped out the patio doors.

Muttering a few totally appropriate curses and obscenities under his breath, Snape fought the urge to go after her, belatedly realizing that Hugo was not only still in the room but hadn't made so much as a peep since he and Lily had started arguing.

"Why aren't you telling her she can't make this potion?"

Hands covered in suds, he loved washing dishes by hand, Hugo shrugged good-naturedly. "My father's an Auror. I grew up knowing what it's like to love someone with a sometimes dangerous job. Potion-making is what she was born to do. I ask her to be careful, but I can't ask for more than that. That would be selfish. Though understandable." He added with a knowing, wise little smile. "It means a lot to her that you care though. And I'm glad you'll be with her tomorrow."

"I just don't want the lab damaged."

Lips twitching at the weak protest Hugo just nodded and let the man leave on that point, murmuring under his breath,

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

)

Snape told himself that he would have backed out if not for the fact that Hugo had said again that morning that he was relieved to know he'd be around to make sure nothing bad happened to Lily. Apparently the insufferable twit had ended up in St. Mungos twice while making this particular potion and Hugo was sure that with Snape around to help her there wouldn't be a third visit. It was for the boy that he was keeping her safe, the Slytherin reassured himself as he followed Lily to the lab after breakfast. It had nothing to do with him not wanting any harm to befall her. That had absolutely, without question, nothing to do with it.

When they arrived at their destination Lily went over to one of her worktables where she'd left the safety measures she'd set out the night before. Shrugging into her special lab coat Lily surprised Snape by throwing one in his direction. "I had to use magic to make it bigger, see if it fits."

Holding the offending garment between two fingers Snape gave her a look that said he had no intention of wearing such a thing and she was barmy if she thought otherwise.

"It's fireproof and will protect your body from shrapnel in case that becomes an issue." Her own coat all buttoned up Lily picked up her safety goggles and put them in place, pointing to an identical pair that were for him when he got done pouting over the lab coat.

Not liking where this could be going Snape grinched his teeth and hastily donned the coat and did it up, any thought of bowing out gone from his head as he accepted the goggles tossed at him. If this potion was bad enough that she was actually taking serious safety precautions there was no way in hell he was leaving her side. Someone had to be on hand to save the little idiot from herself and apparently he was the only man strong enough for the job.

Pulling on gloves since she'd be handling all the ingredients, Lily waited until his protective gear was all in place before she turned her complete attention to the bubbling caldron and the potion she'd started the night before, taking note of its color and thickness with a pleased little hum. And since everything was good to go she started going, the ingredients she would need already lined up in their various containers and ready to be thrown into the pot so to speak.

She was three ingredients in when Snape's protective hovering and scowling got to be a little too much, especially this early in the morning. Plus Lily was a firm believer that bad vibes made for bad potions, so she decided to at least try and lighten the mood a little. Or at least amuse herself while hopefully employing a little subliminal messaging.

"Hey Sev, don't make it bad.  
>Take a sad song and make it better.<br>Remember to let her into your heart,  
>Then you can start to make it better.<p>

Hey Sev, don't be afraid.  
>You were made to go out and get her.<br>The minute you let her under your skin,  
>Then you begin to make it better.<p>

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Sev, refrain,  
>Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.<br>For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool  
>By making his world a little colder."<p>

"How do you even know that song?" Snape demanded to know, interrupting her before she could continue.

"It's a classic." Was her cheeky response. In most everything her father was convinced the Wizarding World was better than the Muggle one, but one of the exceptions had always been when it came to music. Her dad was a big Beatles fan and she'd grown up hearing the music, singing the songs. Muggle songs were way less magical based, and the better for it in her honest opinion.

"Your father introduced you to the Beatles?"

"He did."

Studying her for several moments Snape lips curved ever so slightly. "Well at least he did one thing right when raising you."

Pleased, Lily grinned at him. "So you're a fan too?"

"Anyone with any taste in music is a fan. Of their early work, anyway." Snape would willingly acknowledge that they'd lost a lot of their greatness the closer they'd come to their eventual break up, but even then there'd been sparks of their genius for listening pleasure.

"I'll second that."

And thrilled to find something else in common Lily moved on to 'Can't Buy Me Love' and then 'All My Loving', nearly to the end of that one when it came time to add the ingredient that would dictate whether or not she'd have to sit through another lecture with the staff at St. Mungos or her insurance guy at the very least. That being the case she stopped singing and told her favorite Slytherin that now would be the time for him to take at least a few steps back.

Ignoring the warning, like he was in the habit of listening to her anyway, Snape neatly snatched the bottle she'd just picked up out of her hand, reading the label and considering what else she'd already put in the caldron. It didn't take him long to figure out why taking cover wasn't a bad idea.

"Are you out of what little mind you have?!"

Thus concludes our pleasant bonding experience, Lily thought with a sigh, snatching the bottle back before he can do something really stupid like hold it out of her reach and refuse to give it back. She hated when people did that, particularly when she liked them too much to rack them. Braced to move if he made a grab, she could see in his eyes that he was considering it, Lily pointed towards the door with her free hand and reminded him that he didn't have to stay if he thought it was too dangerous.

Glaring at her Snape automatically shifted into potions teacher mode, lecturing her like she was an incompetent first year. The ingredient she was determined to add to her caldron would react violently with the dragon's blood she'd already added and heated, which would only make it more volatile and liable to blow them to pieces. The bulbadox juice would help reduce the damage, but not enough to save them.

Rolling her eyes, the insults she had to take from this guy, really, Lily very calmly informed him that the night before she'd added croakoa, which would further reduce the effects of the other two ingredients, and that if he kept insulting her by suggesting she didn't know what she was doing she was going to shove his head into the caldron so that he could choke on the contents. She'd made this potion plenty of times, thank you very much, and she damn well was going to add the next ingredient whether he liked it or not.

"You thickheaded, stubborn-arse Weasley spawn-" The rest of Snape insults were halted by the sight of Lily carefully dripping three drops from the bottle into the caldron, the color immediately going blood red, both the size and amount of bubbles on the surface increasing to dangerous levels.

Oh bugger, Lily thought as she started to back away, that just figured.

The whole caldron began to shake now thanks to the chemical reaction underway, and knowing there was no time to run Snape yanked out his wand and aimed it towards the brew, thinking to vanish the contents before it was too late.

"Wait!" Grabbing his wrist to stop him Lily made a sound of glee as the caldron calmed down before their eyes, a wide smile breaking over her face as she punched her free fist into the air as she crowed in victory.

"Wahoo! In your sexy, sexy face, Severus Snape." Letting go of his wrist Lily did a little dance of triumph, having no qualms about rubbing it in his face that all his snarking and belittling of her talent had just been proven wrong.

Putting his wand away Snape crossed his arms in front of him and scowled at her until she finally stopped her little show. "Is that it, danger wise?"

"You bet your sweet arse it is." Was her eye fluttering, 'I'm a little shit' response.

"Then I'll be in the storage room. You haven't done inventory in a while, and I refuse to work in a lab that isn't adequately stocked."

"Knock yourself out."

)

Maintaining a cool expression Snape ignored her smirk and left to do the task he'd just appointed for himself. The storage area really did need to be organized better, he told himself, not to mention they could never be too stocked as far as he was concerned. Many potions were time sensitive after all, ruined if a certain ingredient wasn't added at exactly the right time. It was just common sense for him to take over the task, and had nothing to do with her nearly taking a decade off his new life by putting him in a situation where he'd thought, for a few heart pounding moments, that she might be the death of the both of them with her stupid, ill-conceived and devised potion.

He was reached for the door leading to his destination when her startled shriek reached his ears, seeming to echo in his head as he whirled around, running back the way he'd come without a thought but to get to her.

When he caught sight of Lily his heart stopped, the air leaving his lungs in a flash as his brain struggled to comprehend the blood dripping off what he could see of her face, splattered all over the front of her lab coat like the most grotesque of paintings. In his mind he saw other bodies covered in blood, other witches and wizards done in by magic in his past life. And another Lily, though there'd been no blood then to even indicate she'd ever been alive.

And then this Lily was turning to look at him, one of her hands rising so that she could point a threatening finger in his direction.

"That didn't count as an explosion. Not a real one. Just a minor, little eruption, and it was no longer harmful, obviously. So it doesn't count."

The sound of her voice drawing him in and jump starting his heart, Snape stumbled towards her, finally realizing that it wasn't her blood he was seeing, no, it was the potion. She wasn't hurt. She wasn't dying. She was going to be fine.

The annoying, mouthy, most troublesome Potter he'd ever had to deal with was okay.

Thank Merlin.

Lifting up her goggles so that she could glare at him properly, sure that he was going to start making sarcastic remarks, Lily was about to head him off with some sarcasm of her own when it suddenly dawned on her that he was as pale as death.

"Hey…are you okay?"

Not up to answering, and what could he say, really, Snape simply retrieved his handkerchief from his pocket and reaching out began to wipe the potion off her face with gentle strokes.

"Thanks." Lily said when he stopped, her surprise written all over her face.

"You're welcome." Pause. "And it does count as an explosion, Potter. So…I told you so."


	25. Change of Conversation

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all characters in. Thanks so much for reading, hope you review and let me know what you think!

Change of Conversation

It occurred to Lily a short time after she'd cleaned up and gotten back to her work that the sight of her covered in fake, potion blood was the sort of thing most people would find a little scarring, much less someone who'd gone through two wars. In that context she'd probably brought a lot of bad stuff brewing to the surface in Severus's personal caldron, Lily surmised, and that being the case it was her duty to help him through that. So she gave him a lot of the really challenging stuff to do since that would require his full concentration, plus made a mental note to herself to double check that her nightmare detector was still in full working order. It hadn't gone off recently, and while it would be nice to believe his dreaming had just improved Lily was too pragmatic to count on that. She'd jury-rigged the thing after all, and hadn't consulted Hugo's brilliant brain since he might have let the whole thing slip. His conscience was a great deal bigger than hers.

"What are you plotting?"

Lily gave him her most innocent and clueless look. "Plotting?"

Looking back and forth between Lily and the potion he was working on, no easy feat since both were highly volatile and prone to blow up in his face if not given enough attention, Snape scowled in between backward glances as he stated that he knew her 'plotting' face by now and demanded to know if whatever she was up to involved him in any way.

"Actually, for your information, I was just plotting what we'd have for dinner for tonight. How does garlic sausages, peas, and mashed potatoes sound to you? I could do some crescent rolls too, Hugo loves those."

Being a guy he had to take a moment to drool a little at the thought of having that for dinner before snapping out of it to inform her, again, that he knew her plotting faces by now and that had not been the one she wore for contemplating something as simple as what they were eating that evening.

"Hey, food always deserves serious thought."

Knowing she was trying to stall or distract him from whatever she was up to Snape had no problem letting his sharp tongue punish her for wasting his time. "Keep obsessing about it to this degree and you won't be able to fit through the lab door."

"A fat joke, really?" Not perturbed in the least Lily simply gave him a less than amused smirk. "You might like twigs." Sorry paternal grandma, no offense meant. "But real men like women with some actual curves to them."

"Yes, I'm sure your grandmother Weasley was just bombarded with suitors before she chose Arthur and my memories of those days have just faded with time."

"Hey, the woman had seven children, Sev. I think that's a pretty good indication of her appeal."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth Lily and Sev had to share a slightly disturbed look since neither of them actually wanted to think about how those seven children had come into being. Especially in Lily's case, the girl thought with a slight wince, since she hadn't been alive to know her grandparents before they'd been grandparents many, many times over.

To distract them both from those thoughts, for Merlin's sake hadn't be suffered enough, Snape made the observant that he supposed Lily wanted a house full of kids too.

"Well seven is a little much but yeah, I like kids and it's not like the house couldn't be added to if need be. Chaos and I, we do go together rather nicely if I do say so myself. What about you? How many would you want?"

"Did you lose what little brains you had during that explosion, Potter?"

"No, though thanks for the concern." Was her oh so sweet response. "Did you lose your brain or sex drive when you entered Prince's body?"

When he just stared at her in surprised silence Lily laughed in delight.

"Yeah, Professor, you can have sex again now that you're back among the breathing and breedable. If you were a girl than yeah, your baby carrying days would be coming to an end in the next few years, but you were a guy the last time I checked which means that as long as you can get it up and in you can reproduce. I heard about a guy in his nineties who managed it. So….how many little Sevvies do you want?"

Snape wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that they were having this conversation or the fact that his thoughts had automatically shifted to recall what she looked like with very little clothing on. Either thought made him want to run for his life, Slytherin pride the only thing keeping him in place as he glared and stated the he didn't want children, period.

"Why not? Teaching put you off them?" That she could sort of understand, especially since he'd taught teenagers. They could put anyone off having children when they put their minds to it.

Snape used his teacher's voice without even meaning to. "We are not discussing this."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That only works if you're the boss of me, which you aren't…unless you're applying for the job." Lily's eyes took on a noticeable gleam as she very sweetly inquired as to whether or not Snape was interested in the responsibilities and benefits of being her 'boss'.

Maybe it was just their previous topic of conversation, he really hoped that that was the case, but Snape couldn't help but feel like she'd meant 'master' or 'lover' when she'd said boss. Something about the look in those big, beautiful eyes-

Not going there. So not going there. Must pay attention to potions. Potions were safe unless made by her.

"Get back to work or I'm dumping that potion on your head."

"I'll take that to mean you'll consider the job opportunity and get back to me?"

Snape literally growled her last name.

"Now that was just sexy."

Why couldn't I have just stayed dead, Snape wondered as he very pointedly ignored her words and gave her his back for good measure. Why?

Grinning Lily didn't push…but she did start whistling 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' merrily under her breath as she worked. It was a good day.

)

Staring at the pouring rain that greeted him as he stepped out of the building Hugo sighed and opened his umbrella, resigned to the fact that he was just too tired and worn out to properly enjoy the storm that appeared to be coming their way in the next little while. Hopefully it would hold off until he could get himself some lunch, though the way things were going he wasn't about to hold his breath. Man was he tired. He really should just ask to go home early, it wasn't like he wasn't well ahead in his work, but he didn't want to be home either, worrying about Lily and Severus in the lab. Not that he was really worried about them blowing themselves up, he trusted that Severus could keep her in line well enough, but he worried that Lily would just blurt out her feelings and Severus would reject them because that's what the Slytherin seemed to do when it came to someone offering him a real, loving bond.

He'd stayed awake most of the night trying to figure out how he could help them but romance wasn't really his area of forte given his own horrendous track record when it came to relationships. Not that he didn't understand love, that Hugo got for the most part, but getting someone to open their heart and accept that kind of thing…no, definitely not something he had skills in.

Lost in thought and completely out of it, Hugo wasn't even really aware that he'd tipped his umbrella back too far to actually protect him, much less that he was walking and headed straight for a very thick post that was guaranteed to concuss him should even his thick skull make contact with it.

Which it would have if Alexei hadn't called his name just before he made impact with the inanimate object.

Blinking as he stared at the metal surface he'd been about to bash himself against Hugo had to take a moment to process the situation before he turned his head to look to his right to see Alexei walking towards him without an umbrella, no doubt thinking only the weak would need to carry one around with them. And then Alexei was coming to a stop beside him, the Slytherin tapping his foot with arms crossed and a 'you are such an idiot' look on his face.

Turning to face the other man fully Hugo smiled at him sheepishly. "Thank you for stopping me."

"How many times do people tell you to pay attention to where you're going every day? Just curious."

"Depends on how accident prone I've been recently." Was Hugo's truthful answer as he adjusted his umbrella so that it was actually covering him, though he was already fairly damp at this point. "So where are you headed to?"

"None of your business."

Accepting the truth of that statement, unfortunately, Hugo let it go and changed the topic to something else they could talk about that would maybe keep Alexei with him a little longer. "So I understand that you and Severus weren't able to figure out a way to get him back into his portrait. I would be sorry but I really do like having him around the house. It's certainly made things more lively, when he and Lily are picking fights with each other I feel like I'm at a badminton match."

The fact that they'd failed to come up with a solution annoyed him, he wasn't the type to take defeat remotely well, but Alexei had to agree that losing Justin Prince and gaining Severus Snape suited him just fine. "So he's going to stay with you two even though he has a say in the matter now?"

"We're family now." Was Hugo's matter of fact response to that.

Alexei considered that possibility and then discarded it for the far more likely answer, which was that Hugo had used his evil cuteness powers against Snape and the older man had caved as so many before him had. Poor bastard.

"I'm sure he's just thrilled to call a Potter family."

Smiling, Hugo knew that was still sinking in for Severus. It would be funny once the older man finally realized just how much a certain Potter cared for him. It would be quite the sight to see unless potions were involved. Then it might be life threatening.

"You'll have to drop in sometime to see him. I'm sure he'd like it if you guys stayed friends." And the two Slytherins could use all the friends they could get since the two were both loners with razor sharp tongues they liked to use constantly for not nice conversations. Hugo doubted they'd be good influences on each other exactly, but friends were important too. Plus that would mean he'd get to see Alexei more.

Obviously thinking along the same lines Alexei just grimaced and shrugged in a 'maybe' sort or gesture before stating that he couldn't dawdle any longer, he had somewhere to be. So Hugo needed to move out of his way, the Slytherin added, the look in his eyes making it clear he had no problem shoving the Gryffindor if necessary.

"My apologies." Stepping off to the side hastily Hugo motioned with his hand for Alexei to go ahead.

Deliberately not thanking the other man for moving for him Alexei walked past him and towards the curb, in the process of stepping off it and onto the road when he suddenly felt himself before grasped around the waist so that he was momentarily suspended over the walk before being set back onto the curb. The hands retreated from his body immediately, which was a good thing since Alexei immediately whirled around to jam a finger into Hugo's chest.

"You picked me up!"

Opening his mouth to comment on the technicalities of what he had and hadn't done Hugo thought it wise to simply point out that Alexei had been about to step into a large puddle.

"And you think that gives you the right to PICK ME UP?!"

"Sorry."

"Damn Gryffindors." Alexei gave Hugo one last glare and then the Slytherin straightened his shoulders and walked back over to the curb, taking pains to avoid the worst of the puddle and then continued on his way, only turning to look behind him once since he could damn well feel the curly haired menace's eyes on his arse. That called for another threatening look and then he marched off and eventually out of sight.

"Here's your umbrella."

Thanking the older woman with a smile Hugo accepted it and put it back over his head even though staying dry was now a lost cause.

"Good luck with that one, Dear."

"I will indeed need all the luck I can get." Hugo readily agreed.

)

When her men announced that they were going to play some Wizarding Chess after dinner Lily saw a perfect opportunity to sneak upstairs and check on her nightmare detector before everyone turned in for the night. After checking to make sure they were absorbed in their game and weren't likely to notice her disappearance Lily headed up the stairs as quietly as possible and made a beeline for Snape's room and the spot where she'd hidden her little addition to the room's décor.

As soon as she had the gadget in her hands Lily knew that Snape had found it at some point and decided to insure that she wouldn't be able to easily repair it without outside help. She wasn't even sure it could be repaired, actually.

Turning it over in her hands Lily sighed and shook her head. "This could have been worth something someday."

"You should have thought of that before you snuck it into my room."

With an impressed look on her face Lily stood and turned to face the now open doorway where Snape was standing with a less than welcoming look on his scowling face. "Wow. I didn't even hear you open the door. You're good at sneaking. And this was a mint condition war artefact before you wrecked it, you know. You killed a piece of history."

Not amused at all Snape pointed at the offending object and then informed Lily that if she tried to get that repaired and used it again he'd smash it to bits and then make her eat what was left. He would not stand to be treated like a child and if she wanted him to stay here she was going to respect his privacy.

"Well technically speaking you ARE the youngest person in the house and I'm the oldest. It's my job to take care of you." Lily couldn't help but point out, her quirky sense of humor getting the best of her. As it far too often did.

"And you figure that how, exactly?"

"You haven't been alive for even half a year yet."

Insult was written all over his face. "I am seventy four years old! I'm three times your age!"

"Oh please. Math might not be my best subject depending on what find we're talking about, but even I know that three times twenty-six is…" Lily had to take a moment to do the math in her head. "Seventy-eight! So hah, there. Even if we are going by the old days you aren't three times older than me."

Annunciating the words like she was a simpleton Snape again reminded her that he was still a great deal older than her and that was to be respected.

"But you were thirty-eight when you died or thereabouts, right? That's not THAT much older than I am now. And Prince was about fifty when you took over, okay, but you could pass for very early forties or even late thirties if you really tried. But anyway, technically speaking you were-like-reincarnated so the day you came back is your new birth date and therefore I'm older than you whether you like it or not."

More than prepared to rip her to verbal shreds Snape's words changed as they left his lips, having belatedly realized what she was up to. "You're trying to change the subject and derail my anger so that I'll forget about the fact that you once again snuck into my room."

"You're making it sound like I'm some underwear thief."

Color flushing over his high cheekbones Snape pointed a threatening finger in her direction. "You will stay out of this room from now on, is that understood? If you cannot respect that I will not only leave this house but I will apply my superior skills to competing with you in the world of potions and squashing you like a bug in the process."

Furious at the idea of him leaving her, not to mention the potion shots stung more than a little, Lily tossed her nightmare detector onto the bed and then turned her attention to glaring a hole through the most irritating Slytherin she knew. "And what if you need me, Sev, huh?" Lily fired out as she marched over to him, getting up on her tip toes so that there was less of a difference in their heights, her hands on her hips. "I only did this because I was worried about you, you ungrateful prat, and this is how you thank me? There are GOBLINS out there with better manners than you."

"I didn't ask for your help!" Snape hissed out, lowering his head so that they were almost nose to nose.

"That doesn't mean you don't need it!"


	26. Powers Collide

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all characters in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be.

Powers Collide

When Snape's response to her words was to state that he didn't need anyone or their help, Lily literally felt her Weasley temper explode inside her as her face lit up with fury. "By Merlin how can you be so bloody stupid?! Don't you even realize-how can you be so blind still, after everything that happened to you in your other life?! You're letting history repeat itself and your fucking head is too bleeding thick for you to even realize it. How much of you last life did you spend alone, telling anyone who tried to get close to you what you just said to me? You wasted your last life alone, not even really living as you-you became this shadow of a man who hovered in the background to keep my father safe because he was your Lily's son. Because you wanted to atone for what happened when you pushed away someone who genuinely loved you so that you could be part of a group that you thought would make you so powerful that no one would ever make you a victim again. But you keep making yourself a victim because you're still letting all those horrible people who hurt you win. You're still letting them control you because you're letting what they did overshadow everyone else so that you can't bring yourself to accept the fact that there are people in this world who want you in their lives and think you're loveable even when you're being one of the biggest arseholes this world has seen since the LAST TIME YOU DIED!"

"You know nothing about me!" Was the best Snape could force out, completely floored by the fury and power the little Gryffindor was giving off as she stared him down.

"Yes I do! I know your parents were crap and that I'd like to bitch slap them both into another dimension if they weren't already dead! I know your mum didn't take care of you and protect you the way she should have, the way I would have, and that your dad-"

"You know nothing about my parents!" Of course he knew very well that her father would have seen things he'd rather the other man hadn't when he'd give the Gryffindor his memories but still…what had James Potter's son told her?

The sound Lily made was as dismissive as it was rude. "Do you honestly think that you haven't been mentioned in the books that have been written about the wars? Just because you refused to give interviews from your portrait doesn't mean they just didn't ask other people about you! Some of them even disguise themselves as Muggles and talked to Dad's Aunt Petunia! You should see some of the stuff written about you!"

Scowling to a frightening degree Snape growled Petunia's name and said Skeeter's like it was a swear word, knowing that both women would have been the worst of the bunch when it came to maligning him and his past. It was actually frightening to think about how much the two had in common, given that they never had a nice thing to say about anyone expect themselves. He felt nauseated just thinking about the lies that had no doubt been printed for future generations to read. Look what Skeeter had said about Dumbledore after all!

"Actually Skeeter never got the chance to publish the book she wrote about the main players in the last war. The manuscript got canned because not even her editor was barmy enough to think they could get away with some of the stories she fabricated for that one. Plus Hugo's mum had blackmail material on her and…and that's not what we're talking about here! We're talking about how stupid you are! Where did I leave off, dammit?!"

Naturally Snape's response was to glare at her, not about to help her in the slightest and busy making a mental note to get Hugo to tell him what authors he needed to visit over their 'interpretations' of his past when the opportunity arose.

It took Lily a couple curse filled minutes while she pointedly ignoring Snape telling her to leave his room again too, but it came back to her eventually, the Gryffindor snapping her fingers in remembrance before she picked up where she'd left off with fresh fury and volume.

"So what I was saying was that your dad was a right jackarse who ought to have been turned into a toad and then tossed onto a fucking highway during rush hour for being such a bad husband and dad and-"

"My father was far from the worst person I had to deal with in my life." Snape interrupted, prepared to remove her from the room bodily if she wanted to get into a discussion about his childhood. And thinking to both change the subject and get rid of her Snape's scowl turned into a nasty smirk. "If you want to discuss individuals who deserved to be transfigured and maimed then-"

"I know that people picked on you at Hogwarts and before that because you were different than they were, and I won't hesitate to say that my grandfather was a complete and total gobshite to you and that I'm ashamed of the way he treated you and anyone else he picked on because he was too full of himself to realize how much hurt he was causing." It was Lily's turn to interrupt now. "As for my grandmother you fucked up royally there all on your own, so I'm not blaming her unless you want to tell me otherwise because I will believe you. We all fuck up and hurt people without meaning to when we're teenagers, we make mistakes and don't value things until we lose them because we think the wrong things are what's important. And you learned that lesson in the worst way possible, and I wish you could have undone what happened just as much as you wish it because I hate the thought of how much you must have suffered and-and without someone there who loved you to get you through it."

Reaching out Lily grabbed Snape's hand and held it hard enough to be painful. "But I'm here now and-and I'll listen and I won't judge and I won't leave you when times get tough. I'm not weak or trying to use you, Sev. I'm trying to tell you I care and I hate that you won't let me show you that!"

Trying and failing to jerk his hand from her grip, desperately wanting to get away from her and what she was saying and suggesting, Snape snarled that she didn't know what the hell she was talking about and he wasn't some damn stray for her to look after.

"MEN!"

Doing some snarling of her own Lily let him jerk his hand free so that she'd have both of hers free so that she could grab the front of his jumper and yank him down, shifting grip then to dive her fingers into his hair as she pressed their lips together to shut him up and force him to understand what she was saying.

Normally Lily would have taken some offense to having a guy she was trying to snog freeze like he'd been stupefied, but in this case Lily figured it was probably for the best as she stroked her fingers through the midnight black with hints of silver hair she'd been wanting to touch for ages, using it to rein herself in since what she wanted to do was ravage his mouth and turn him into a pile of hormonal male goo. But then he'd think it was all about sex and it wasn't, so she kept the kissing gentle but firm, allowing herself only a couple brief swipes of tongue before pulling away and taking a step back.

So that she wasn't tempted to commit homicide Lily opted to look over his shoulder as opposed to his face as she told him to think about that for a while.

"Oh, and if you run now I'll hunt you down, don't think I won't. And you'll be as big a coward as people used to say you were too."

Her point made, hopefully, Lily shouldered past him and out into the hallway, the sound of her bedroom door closing loudly echoing in said hallway moments later.

)

Having come up the steps to see what they were fighting about, he'd been able to hear the sound of Lily yelling despite the distance, Hugo arrived shortly after the slam, taking that to mean that at least the fighting was over unless Severus was in Lily's room which wasn't likely. Making his way to his friend's room, the door was open and that was the logical place to find Severus anyway, Hugo poked his head in to find the Slytherin just standing nearly in the doorway, the older man not responding in any way to his name when Hugo tried it.

Oh boy. That wasn't a good sign.

Carefully moving around his friend until he could stand in front of him Hugo studied Snape's face for several moments and then sighed, shaking his head before he reached out and very carefully maneuvered Snape over to the bed and onto it in a seated position. "Severus…are you with me?"

When the Slytherin's eyes focused on meeting Hugo's it was more of an instinctual reaction to his name than the actual words spoken. When Hugo asked if he was okay Snape nodded, some part of his still working brain telling him that that was the right response.

"Okay. You stay here and I'm going to get you something to make you feel better. I'll be right back, promise."

Watching as Hugo left him and headed out of his room Snape hoped rather desperately that whatever the Gryffindor was bringing him, it came in a bottle. A big bottle that Hugo would bring with him so that he could use the alcohol in it to hopefully block the last ten odd minutes of his life out with. Not that liquor had ever been able to dull his thoughts and memories for long, he'd tried that in his past life, but this wasn't technically his body and maybe Prince's would react differently. A Slytherin could hope.

If nothing else it would erase the taste of her from his mouth.

Groaning at the thought Snape dropped his head into his hands, alternating between cursing Lily and the fates that had landed him in this situation. Because while the other kiss she'd given him had been just her screwing with his head because she could…the one she'd just given him was a horse of a different color so to speak.

Unfortunately there was no house to fall on him at the moment, ending his currently wretched existence, so Snape had to content himself with marveling over the creativity of the fates, to have come up with such a truly twisted and imaginative punishment to sic on him. Genius really. Utterly evil and genius. And she was Harry Potter's daughter, James Potter's granddaughter. LILY'S GRANDDAUGHTER.

"I'm going to hell. No, this is hell." Snape corrected, muttering to himself under his breath some more about the evilness of this punishment until he heard footsteps, lifting his head then since he didn't want to look even more pathetic than he already had.

To the Slytherin's disappointment the Gryffindor had two large thermoses in his hands, the boy sitting on the bed beside him before handing one out to him.

Taking it automatically Snape stared down at the lid, asking what it was.

"It's what my mum always made me when I needed cheering up. It's really good, try it."

Okay, this couldn't be hell because Hugo was in it, Snape acknowledged as he stared into the Gryffindor's face, which was beaming hopefulness and encouragement at him like the boy was the bloody sun. And unable to resist him, he was willing to admit only Alexei could, Snape sighed and raised the drink to take a swallow, his eyes widening a little in surprise at the flavors that made up the liquid that hit his tongue and slid warmly down his throat.

"Chocolate…and mint?" It tasted like a milk chocolate mint smoothie, Snape thought to himself, taking another sip automatically because it really was delicious. Not too bitter or sweet, and the temperature was spot on for drinking.

"Yup. You put a mint tea bag in and then fill the cup up three quarters of the way with hot chocolate. Then you fill the last quarter with chocolate milk and give it a bit of a stir and then pull the bag out. Gives it a hint of mint without it being too much, and the cold chocolate milk guarantees you can drink it right away without having to wait for it to cool at all."

Watching Hugo over the rim of the thermos as the Gryffindor happily enjoyed his own drink, the boy was even making yummy noises, Snape couldn't stop one corner of his mouth from curving up in a half smile. Damn the curly haired menace was good.

And so they sat there and drank their treats until they both had about a quarter of the drink left and Hugo asked the question.

"Ready to talk about it?"

)

To say he didn't want to talk about it would be a massive understatement, or at least that's what Snape thought as he sighed and opened his mouth, knowing that Hugo would worm the truth out of him so he might as well get it over with. And then, after he got through the first couple sentences, the words seemed to come pouring out of him like they had been dammed up and had finally broken free. It all came spilling out, not just what had happened moments ago but all the other things she'd done to drive him crazy or mess with his head to the point where he felt like his whole world had gone topsy-turvy. From there Snape segued to other stuff, namely the fact that Lily thought she knew something about his past and she didn't. No one knew but him and how dare she presume otherwise. Or lecture him about bullying and what it was like to be an outsider when people had worshipped the ground she'd walked on as the Chosen One's only daughter. Because while she was so odd there weren't even words Snape hadn't had to be a portrait on the wall to know that she'd still been treated like a princess by the students and staff.

Sitting quietly Hugo didn't comment, it wasn't his opinions his friend wanted to hear after all and the man needed to vent, so instead he stored away those thought and observations effortless in his extraordinary brain, other sections already formulating responses and making connections to past events. But mostly Hugo just listened, fairly sure that this was a once in a lifetime sort of event.

Unable to stop himself, and not even aware that he should because he was so caught up in FINALLY saying all that he'd been wanting to say for decades, Snape spoke honestly about the people who'd fundamentally altered and effected his life and the man he'd become, having very few good things to say about the vast majority of them. He took water that Hugo conjured up for him when his throat started to dry and just kept right on going as he acknowledged wounds that had been festering for over half a millennia and had never been allowed to heal.

He talked and talked and talked…and trusted, to the core of his being, that Hugo could be trusted with him pain and dark places. That his friend would stay.

And when he did finally stop talking, with nothing more to say, Snape felt more exhausted than he could ever recall being in both his 'lives'. But…he felt better too, the Slytherin realized as he turned his head to study the boy sitting so quietly beside him, his presence like a security blanket around him. He felt rather like an infant who'd been crying for attention and had been picked up, assured that it wasn't alone and that he mattered to someone. That the darkness would always be kept away so long as he was there.

It also occurred to him that he should thank Hugo for listening, or maybe even apologize for some of the things he'd said about Hugo's family, but somehow Snape knew that wasn't necessary. That Hugo was the sort who would always know such things without being told.

Still… "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Reaching over Hugo gave Snape's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Now I think it's time you go to bed. And don't worry about Lily, I'll talk to her. Just act normal tomorrow and you two will be back on track in no time."

His voice rusty with overuse Snape didn't share Hugo's optimism. "She's made that impossible by-"

"Very few things are impossible and this isn't one of them. She's made her feelings clear and I'll make your feelings clear to her. You're ready to start making friends, but anything more than that is asking too much of you right now. I'll make her understand that and she'll back off, for a while anyway."

"A while?"

"Best I can do." Was Hugo's 'what you gonna do' answer, the Gryffindor shrugging his shoulders for emphasis. "She's not really someone you can hold back for long, particularly when her emotions are involved."

"Can't you make her understand that her-she-it would never work?" If anyone could do it it would be Hugo, Snape felt certain of it.

"Ah, well…I'm a crappy liar, remember? And I think you two would make a lovely couple."

When Snape stared at him in dumbfounded shock Hugo had to smile, getting to his feet fairly smoothly before neatly nipping the now empty thermos out of Snape's hand.

Sure that his job for the moment was done Hugo headed for the door, turning around once he was there to look at Snape, who looked as shocked now as he had the first time he'd come into the room to find out what the two had been arguing about.

"Severus…a wise turtle once said that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present." Steeping yourself in the past hasn't done you any good, and no one can say for sure what the future will hold for any of us. So starting tomorrow try living in the present for a while…see what happens."

"A turtle…?"

"Long story, tell you about it tomorrow. Good night."

Not knowing what else to say Snape echoed the sentiment, watching Hugo leave before turning his attention to getting ready for bed.

He definitely needed to sleep on all this.


	27. Next Moves

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy.

Next Moves

After leaving Severus alone to his thoughts, the Slytherin certainly had a lot to think about, Hugo headed down the hallways and straight for Lily's room, knocking very lightly on her door before entering. When he was given the all clear to enter and did so Hugo really wasn't surprised to find her curled up on her bed with the thermos he'd given her earlier still clutched in her hands, a miserable look on her tearstained face. Shaking his head over the predicament they'd all found themselves in, though of course he'd figured it was only a matter of time, Hugo walked over to join her on her bed, nipping the thermos out of her hands to set it on the bedside table before gathering her up in his arms. She quite obviously needed a hug.

Finally she spoke, her voice small. "Is he leaving?"

"No. I don't think so."

Wrapping her arms around his neck Lily made a teary sound of relief, laying her head on his shoulder as she asked if Sev was very mad at her.

"Mad…isn't quite the word I would use. Tired, confused or upset would be better choices. Hopefully he'll go straight to bed now and sleep on it, which you should do too. And come morning you need to give him his space and treat him like normal or he really will leave. He needs time to process and think things through or you're both going to end up blowing up at each other and saying things you're going to regret for a very long time."

Lifting her head Lily gave her cousin a look that was comical in its disbelief. "You think I can act like nothing happened tomorrow? Are you mad?"

"How much do you want him to stay?"

The strangled sound she made made it clear she did not like that question or the implications of it.

"Lily." Hugo's tone said plenty as well, being decidedly adult and mature for the moment. "You need to think about this rationally, not emotionally. He doesn't understand how to handle the emotional, especially this kind. You need to think of him as…as an abused cat."

"A what?"

"Well he's more cat than dog…plus dogs are generally friendly while even the most domesticated cat can be pissy even if it likes you. Or would you prefer another animal? Any kind would do provided you could hypothetically domesticate it."

Unable not to smile a little, this was Hugo logic after all, Lily settled back down with her head on his shoulder and asked him to explain how Sev was a cat to her.

"Well when you approach an animal that's been abused for a really long time, it's not going to let you near it right? It's going to be conditioned to see you as a threat and your good intentions don't really mean a damn. An animal in pain knows only pain, and expects it, not kindness. So you see we're at the point in this relationship where Severus has let us take him home with us, and we can feed him and give him kind words, but he's just not ready to let us pet him yet. So what we have to do is let him get used to us more, learn that we would never, ever hurt him, and let him let us know when it's okay to pet him. Because trying to force him to let you pet him is going to get your hand raked open to the bone for your efforts."

"He lets you pet him." Lily grumbled, lips twitching immediately afterwards. "And that sounds so wrong on a number of levels."

"It does, yes. But what you need to consider is the fact that three people in your immediate family gave him the hardest of kicks. It's not fair, or reasonable, but you're a Potter and that does not have good connotations in his head. He'll get over that eventually, especially since you're more Weasley than Potter…but still it makes sense that he should be more suspicious of your intentions than mine."

"That and you're a super adorable, curly haired bundle of cuteness."

"That is probably a factor too, I agree."

Thinking over what he'd said, it was pretty adorable to imagine Sev with cat ears and a tail, Lily could see that Hugo did have a valid point. Sev wasn't a cat of course, but people did react to regular abuse in much the same way, especially if their backs were to the wall. And if animals could talk in a language people could understand they'd probably lash out verbally at people too, the way humans did when someone hurt them or touched on old wounds. She'd given James a black eye once, while in the midst of a bad dream. He'd been trying to wake her up, but locked in her terror she hadn't been aware of anything but hands on her. Al had ragged James about it for weeks.

So yeah…sometimes you couldn't tell the difference between a hand raised to stroke, and one poised to strike.

"I can't change who my family is, or what they did to him."

"Very true. So all you can do is be yourself and let him get used to you. Eventually he'll see you, and then you can give the petting another try." Hopefully it would end better this time.

"But I want to pet him now!"

"Lily."

Much grumbling from Lily followed that unspoken warning, that followed by her inquiry as to whether or not it was permissible to bribe the hell out of Sev in the hopes of getting her petting rights that much sooner.

"That's okay, yes."

"Okay, fine. I'll try to be good. It's not going to be easy."

"On that we can agree."

)

Lily did her best to act like nothing had happened the next morning, which was more than she could say for Snape who acted like he expected her to jump him at any moment. Whether to take that as a compliment or not weighed on her mind, but she pushed that aside with Weasley stubbornness and got through breakfast without doing anything Sev could call her on. Hugo even gave her a thumb's up before it was time for her to see him safely to work. She'd be a little late getting back to, Lily informed their resident Slytherin before they headed out of the house. She needed to stop at Domi's shop for a bit.

It took considerable effort on her part not to snap at how relieved Sev looked in response to that statement. But she managed not to snap or maim or give the idiot prat what was coming to him, dropping Hugo off without a problem before heading to Domi's shop.

As per usual it gave Lily both a thrill and a need to gag when she arrived at her cousin's store, thrilled as always to see the fruit of her previous labor, but it was also a little nauseating to be surrounded by products that were designed to convince you that you were physically lacking in every way unless you used the merchandise. The fact that she made more than half of the stuff was a cruel sort of irony whenever she bothered to think about it.

Of course in her present mood, it was all just ten times worse.

Yay me, Lily thought as she did her best to block it all out as she made her way over to the counter to ask the eerily perfect woman working there where Domi was.

"In the back."

"Thanks."

Leaving the front to head back into the storage area Lily smiled automatically when she saw that Domi wasn't alone, her cousin currently trading 'I'm the BOSS' glares with her husband. The two were made for each other, no question, which was a little depressing given her own single status and how seriously mad at Sev she currently was, but she was big enough to be happy for Domi. Especially since Christopher was tough enough to go toe to toe with his wife, which was something very few people dared to do, much less pulled off without ending up on the ground crying for their mummies.

Naturally Christopher noticed her first, looking over to raise a hand in silent greeting.

"Hey, Guys. Should I come back later?"

"No, it's okay. We can fight later." Waving the whole thing off, she didn't mind fighting with him one little bit after all since that just meant make up sex later, Domi smiled as she walked over to her cousin, her ruby red lips turning into a bit of a frown as she looked Lily over carefully. "What's wrong?"

"I need advice. From both of you, actually. I could use a male ear that's not Hugo's." Christopher wasn't nearly as in touch with his feelings as Hugo was, but Lily figured that that would be to her advantage since her Slytherin had all the emotional maturity of a fruit fly. Plus Christopher knew how to handle Domi, and she was even more exasperating than Sev a lot of the time. She could probably learn a lot from him.

"We've both got time." The look Domi aimed in her husband's direction made it clear he'd make time or else.

Luckily for all involved he didn't have anywhere he had to be, so Christopher nodded and followed them over to the break table, taking a seat and settling in to hear whatever insanity was going on in Lily's world.

"So my problem is this guy. This infuriating, emotionally stunted, makes me want to beat him over the head repeatedly with my frying pan guy-that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with and am therefore doomed for all eternity. He basically acts like I'm the bane of his existence most of the time, so I have to figure out how to make him fall in love with me and that's where you come in, Domi. You've got the skills."

"I do indeed." Looking quite smug about that fact Domi grinned, pleased she'd been picked for advice giving as opposed to her older sister. Of course Victoire had always been the type that if a guy she had her eye on didn't fall in line her interest turned to hate really soon. She, on the other hand, had always preferred a man who presented a challenge.

At her side Christopher rolled his eyes but didn't argue.

"I get the fact that I'm going to have to lose some weight and start taking more care not to look like I just rolled out of bed. Plus making sure that I don't blow him up in the lab would be important too-"

Christopher couldn't speak, werewolves had seen to that when he was a child, but he could rumble a little in his throat and the hand he placed on top of Lily's drew her attention to him, insuring that she saw his head shake.

"What? You think I should blow him up and hope that gives him an attitude adjustment? Because I have been tempted, I'll admit."

Since Lily didn't know signed language, and he hated to write stuff out when he didn't have to, Christopher shifted in his seat so that he was facing Domi and quickly signed to her what he wanted her to say to Lily on his behalf.

"Awww, sweetie!" Hopping out of her chair when he was done Domi came around the table to give him a very appreciative, hard kiss that had him looking more than a little dazed when she finally let him go.

"What did he say?"

Smiling like the cat that got the cream, Christopher was hers after all and she'd go psycho Veela on the arse of any bitch who tried to trespass on her territory there, Domi blew her man another kiss before summarizing the just of what Christopher had said. Namely the fact that she didn't need to lose weight and shouldn't change herself to try and get this idiot to like her more. She was who she was, and if this man couldn't appreciate what made her uniquely herself then this guy didn't deserve her. The not blowing the guy up was a good idea though. He strongly advised that.

Making some appreciative noises of her own Lily got out of her seat and gave him a big smacking kiss on the cheek and a one armed hug.

Years of being around Weasley women had gotten him used to the hugs and affection, Christopher accepting the gesture with a one armed hug of his own. He was particularly fond of Lily too, she made every encounter with her interesting and memorable in some way.

So did his sorta friend Gellert, but Lily memories tended to be more amusing.

"Okay, enough mushy stuff, down to business." Domi announced, drawing their attention back to her. "Naturally I totally agree that you shouldn't have to change yourself for this guy, but you could do with some polishing up, little cousin. This guy isn't showing you the proper lust due any extremely hot Weasley woman, ergo he deserves to be punished to the full extent of my abilities."

Poor, poor bastard, Christopher and Lily thought together. They knew that look in Domi's eyes well.

And then Christopher was looking at her with a similar expression on his face, and Lily had to gulp, realizing that she might have made a tactical error in not going to someone outside of the family.

Crap.

)

Working away at his latest project, it wasn't difficult but he had to add the next round of ingredients to it if it was going to come out correctly, Snape determinedly ignored his itch to check his watch once again to see what time it was. Because he didn't care what time it was, or what was keeping Lily from coming to the lab to continue her own work the way she would if she was remotely responsible. Which she wasn't, so she probably wouldn't be back anytime soon and that was just great with him because he certainly didn't want to see her, much less have to talk to her. In fact he really shouldn't be in the lab at all, he should be packing up his stuff and getting as far away from this place as possible, Snape told himself even as he remained right where he was.

Hugo would understand, it wasn't like him moving out would end their friendship. He was pretty sure that he was stuck with the boy even if he were to try and lose him. One had only to look at Hugo's fascination and stubbornness where Alexei was concerned to know the Gryffindor knew how to cling to someone like a burr.

And yet…he was still here. Why was he still here?

Obviously he'd lost his mind, the Slytherin decided as he competently finished the potion he'd been working on and left it to cook, moving on to the next assignment listed on Lily's bulletin board for products due to be delivered to her cousin's shop soon.

And now that he thought about it, Snape found himself realizing that it made perfect sense that he'd been driven insane by a Potter. The whole family had been trying for decades now, pushing him closer and closer to the edge, the fall inevitable. It even made sense that it was this Potter that had finally done him in because she was already insane and insanity loved company. There was a Muggle saying about that, or at least he thought there was. He was too messed in the head at the moment to remember either way. But either way he was insane, and it was the Potter family's fault, and he should really, really get out now on the slim chance that he could still be saved.

That he was still having the same argument with himself an hour later when he heard the sound of the main doors being opened was a dark irony to Snape.

Bracing himself, her good behavior at breakfast had not been enough to reassure him that she really did mean to behave herself, Snape ended up being the first to speak as she came shuffling into the area he was in, surprise loosening his tongue.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to have nightmares as it is."

He was standing in front of her in a heartbeat with zero memory of moving in her direction or how his hand had come up to cup her cheek before he realized what he'd done, Snape quickly dropping it back to his side. "Who hurt you?"

Surprise and then delight lit up Lily's eyes as she asked if he was worried about her.

"Just answer the question, Potter."

"There's no one for you to curse, Mr. Tough Guy. I brought this on myself…so to speak. And Christopher did try to help before Domi kicked him out of the salon, which is why I still have my eyebrows." Reflectively she covered them with her hand, like they were still in danger.

"Who is Christopher and what the hell did you go and do now, Woman?"

"Christopher Worden is my cousin Domi's husband, and what I did…well let's just say that being a girl very often sucks, and involves rituals that would make a grown man cry if he was subjected to them. The ritual that resulted in my current walking method is one I will never engage in again, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter. Be glad I'm not telling you."

Raising an eyebrow Snape thought to himself that if he were a Gryffindor he'd probably poke and prod at her until she told him just what stupid ritual she'd done that was apparently going to cause her nightmares, but thank Merlin he was a Slytherin. He knew how to keep his mouth shut.

Thankful that he didn't press Lily gingerly made her way over to get her lab coat.

She was never, EVER getting any part of her body waxed EVER again.

No man was worth the pain.


	28. Raise Your Glasses

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be according to the lawyers.

Raise Your Glasses

It was nearly a month from the day after 'The Incident' that Sev spotted Lily coming towards him with a gleam in her eyes that did not bode well for him. Things had just started to become tolerable between them again, or as much as they ever could be given their personalities and her lineage, and now he knew in his gut that she was about to unleash one of her little bombs that would no doubt shake the foundations of their fragile truce and make him want to stick her head into one of her caldrons while it was full of harmful substances.

"Potter…."

"_Cowboy heroes,__  
><em>_cops and robbers,__  
><em>_glamour and strife,__  
><em>_bigger than life!_

_Sitting in the darkness,__  
><em>_what a world to see!__  
><em>_Let's go to the movies,__  
><em>_Sevvie, wait and see."_

Blink. Blink. "Exactly what sort of potions have you been sniffing today?"

"It's from 'Annie', Sev. I figured you'd recognize it since it's really old." Rolling her eyes Lily gave his chest a teasing poke with her finger. "The only reason I know it is because Hugo's grandparents are total theatre and musicale geeks and they took me and Hugo to some shows, including that one. The fact that the lead kid was a redhead, and almost as annoying as me at that age, inspired moi to learn the songs, that one included."

"Muggle theatre didn't interest me then or now." Not for all the world would Snape admit that he'd actually heard of that movie, or point out that her father was actually older than that film. His mother had loved Carol Burnett.

"Your loss." Waving that fact off, it wasn't like his answer had really surprised her, Lily got to the point of her song, which was to inform him that her Aunt Hermione had just sent her an owl informing her that there was an old movie theater in London that would soon be hosting a 'Month of British Bad Guys' special, and in two weeks they would be playing the first 'Die Hard' film. Which meant, drum roll please, that Snape could finally see Alan Rickman in action.

"If you think I care about that you've inhaled more many toxic brews then I thought."

"Yes you do. You just hide it really well behind that snakey face of yours. And I already sent a message to Hugo telling him about it, and I'd bet you twenty galleons he comes home psyched about it so you're stuck, Mr. Slytherin."

Knowing that she was right, he hated when that happened, Snape had to settle for glaring at her.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I said that you didn't have to go to the party Hugo and I are going to this weekend, remember?"

Since Prince's body had officially become his he no longer had to have babysitters, which meant he could be left alone which was something he was looking forward to quite a lot. He'd already planned his evening and there was nothing she could say or threat him with that would change his mind at this point. The fact that the party would be attended by a large portion of her family was the final nail on the coffin so to speak, not that he'd for one minute even entertained the idea of going when the two had mentioned it.

"I can do what I like and I'm not going to see this movie."

"Well you're stuck so deal with it. And Teddy will be here at two so if you don't want to see him you should hide in the house at that point since he'll be bringing the stuff to the lab so we don't have to lug it all down there afterwards."

"What stuff? What are you bringing into our lab?"

Her evil, Cheshire cat grin. "Liquor. Lots and lots of liquor."

Twitch, twitch. "You're bringing liquor into the lab, where there are explosive ingredients everywhere, and where you cause explosions with things that don't even have explosive properties."

"You look like you're about to have a stroke. Or a brain aneurism. Are you? You are pretty old after all. Do you need to sit down?" Making her eyes go all big with mock concern Lily grabbed his wrist and pretended to check his pulse for the brief moment it remained in her grasp before he jerked it away.

"You are not leaving bottles of liquor lying around our lab."

"Relax, most of it won't be in bottles for long. They'll be in ice lolly form in no time."

"What?!"

Lily grinned. "That's why Teddy can't keep them at his place. He has kids who might try and take some even if he told them not to, which he would. Rell and Flora have a habit of getting into things they shouldn't, it's the Weasley in them. So we're going to make them here and store them in the lab cooler until the party. I get to keep the booze we don't use as payment." She wiggled her brows suggestively for emphasis as she added that they could share it if he wanted.

"Merlin help the world." Was Snape's thoughts on the matter before he turned on his heels to leave while what was left of his sanity was still intact. The level of craziness she was exhibited was probably contagious.

)

Due to a minor explosion caused by one of Hugo's colleagues, the wizard had made the mistake of reading outloud from a cursed book, Snape was tasked with going to pick him up from St. Mungos and then bringing him home as Lily was in the middle of finishing a potion which she refused to entrust to him. Hugo, it seemed, was another story. Thankfully their curly haired menace was only a little singed around the edges, more upset by the books and papers the explosion had ruined than the fact that his clothes looked like a patchwork quilt of rags hanging off his body. To make him feel better once he was dressed in clothes that weren't threatening to disintegrate on him Snape challenged Hugo to some Wizards' Chess. It gave them both something to do and would keep them out of the lab. Snape had no desire to be around Remus Lupin's son, and Hugo just wanted to stretch out on their couch and relax.

They were well into their third game, Hugo was winning as per usual, when they both heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, which the Gryffindor immediately recognized and had him sitting up and beaming when Alexei walked into the room.

"What the hell happened to your hair?!"

Snape and Hugo shared a look of confusion before the former clued the latter into the fact that upon a closer look some of the boy's locks had apparently gotten singed in the fire.

"Really? Oh crud. My mum loves my curls. She hates when I accidentally damage them."

"You were on fire? Again?!" Marching over Alexei glared down at Hugo, the Slytherin's eyes narrowing as he leaned down and flicked Hugo right between the eyes. "How many times are you going to do that before that so called huge brain of yours clues you into the fact that you aren't flame retardant? Just retarded."

"How often does he set himself on fire?"

"Not nearly as often as Lily has."

Neither Slytherin could deny that that was probably true, they both knew Lily far too well.

So in order to change the subject Alexei turned to look at Snape, asking him if he was aware that Potter was at that very moment fooling around with huge amounts of alcohol in the laboratory, which he assumed housed any number of flammable, downright explosive materials. Not that he cared if she did blow herself up, but depending on the size of the explosion she could take the house out with her.

"Are they done the tequila ones? I really like those."

"The last thing you need is tequila."

Hugo just smiled in reaction to Alexei's dry words. "I have a very high tolerance for alcohol. I could probably drink both of you under the table even on an empty stomach."

As horribly embarrassing as it was, Snape knew the boy was right where he was concerned and therefore kept silent, not the least surprised when Alexei did the exact opposite, the Slytherin immediately going into a rant about how he could out drink Hugo any time of the week.

"Wanna bet?"

If not for the fact that he feared for Hugo's safety Snape would have wished himself to the lab rather than stick around for the train wreck that was happening before his very eyes. This could in no way end well. This was just another day from hell, actually.

Why oh why couldn't he have just stayed dead?

Hoping to head off the argument Snape asked Alexei why he'd dropped by in the first place. It wasn't like the Slytherin was ever eager to see the two Gryffindors after all.

"My boss sent me. Now that you're officially not going back into your portrait so to speak we need to create a new one since your previous one was destroyed. As you are currently living we can't do that without you signing off on it. He insisted I come personally with the paperwork." Alexei's dark look in Hugo's direction made it clear he hadn't expected the Gryffindor to be home.

Only because he was looking for it did Snape see the hint of regret in Alexei's eyes in reaction to the hurt puppy dog eyes Hugo gave him in response.

"I don't care about having another portrait. I wasn't even a Headmaster for a year."

"Oh no, no, no. You have to have a new portrait done." Hugo waved a finger in Snape's direction for emphasis. "You deserve to have your portrait there, and I'm not going to let you off the hook with this one. Your work was an important contribution to Hogwarts' history, and I'm sure if we ask Dumbledore's portrait he'd say the same. We could even go and visit him right now, on a field trip!"

"No field trip. I'll sign the damn papers." Knowing better than to think Hugo would let him do otherwise, he knew that gleam in the deviously manipulative boy's eyes, Snape held his hand out towards Alexei for the papers while Hugo got up to get him a quill and some ink.

His considerable years meant he knew better than to just sign off without reading the whole contract, which was unfortunate since there was a lot of it. Doubly unfortunate when you factored in the fact that while he was reading the other two revisited their earlier argument which led to the declaration of a drinking war, the two leaving him alone with the papers, his warning that this was a stupid, Gryffindor idea falling on deaf ears.

With no other choice Snape pulled out his wand and decided to use a sternly worded patronus to tell Lily not to let the two boys do something really stupid.

But then Snape caught sight of the shape his patronus was taking, and his wand dropped from his hand with a clatter that seemed to echo in the room, the papers he'd set on his thigh sliding off to pool around at his feet as Snape slowly got to his feet as the shape dissipated.

For the first time in either lifetime, the silvery mist hadn't come together to form a doe.

It had been a bird.

)

Standing off to the side as they watched the two idiots square off over shots, Teddy and Lily weren't sure how to proceed or if they should intervene. On the one hand they both knew that Hugo actually did have a truly impressive head for alcohol, which meant that odds were their cousin would win, but on the other they had no idea what Alexei's tolerance was and both were stubborn enough to give themselves alcohol poisoning for the chance to beat the other. Especially since they'd both added terms to this bet on the way over, with Hugo winning weekly dates for two months if he won, while Hugo couldn't speak to Alexei for a whole year unless his life was in danger if Alexei won.

"Why didn't Snape nip this at the bud?" Teddy hissed out so that he wouldn't be overheard.

"My question is where is he? Normally he's more protective of Hugo then I am." Talking out of the corner of her mouth Lily was actually a little concerned that Snape hadn't made an appearance yet. This wasn't like him. Snape didn't trust her to take care of Hugo, he'd claimed at one point that he was only staying in the house while Honey and Bunny were visiting because she couldn't be trusted to keep a cactus alive, much less a human being.

"You want to go find him? I'll keep an eye on the children."

Lily considered doing just that, but opted to stay where she was and keep an eye on the younger two. She really, really wanted to see Alexei's drunk. It was bound to be bloody hilarious given the Slytherin's normal personality.

"What are you going to do if they drink all the extra liquor?"

Considering that possibility, there probably wouldn't be that much left over, Lily weighed the situation and decreed that it would totally be worth it to see Alexei fall down drunk. Thoughts of her favorite Slytherin kept intruding though, so she waited until both men had finished their latest shot before asking them to confirm that Snape had been just fine when they'd left him back at the house.

"Maybe you should check on him." Hugo suggested while Alexei poured them both their next round. "He was telling us that this was a bad idea while we were leaving, I thought he'd follow after he'd finished reading the paperwork. He should be done that by now."

Hugo read at a phenomenal rate, so it was entirely possible her cousin was overestimating how long the papers would take Snape, but still, her instincts were telling her that maybe she should go and check on Sev, just in case.

Pointing a finger in Alexei's direction, Lily ordered him not to do anything amusing or blackmail worthy until she got back.

Sarcastically saluting her with his glass, Alexei immediately turned his attention back to Hugo, who picked up his own glass and then together they chugged back the contents of their glasses.

Leaving the 'drinking buddies' in Teddy's capable hands, Lily left the lab and headed up to the house, letting herself in through the kitchen and heading for the front parlor since that was where the other two had last seen the Slytherin.

Stepping into the room Lily's eyes went wide at the sight of Snape sitting on the floor, eyes vacant and his wand lying a couple feet away from him, so still she'd have thought he'd been petrified or carved from stone.

"SEV!"

Running over to him Lily dropped down onto her knees facing him, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she gave them a light shake.

"Sev? Sev what's wrong? Is it the portrait? Is it calling you back or something? Don't go into the light! Light is bad right now! You have to stay with me, okay! You have to or I'll never forgive you and I'll curse you, and that saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' is still around for a reason! Say something, will you?!"

"What's your patronus?"

"What? Did you fall and bang your head on something? Falls are really dangerous for old people!"

Possibly cluing in to the note of hysteria in her voice, Snape's eyes focused a little more and met hers as he reached out to firmly grasp her chin with his fingers as he repeated the question.

"My patronus? What does my patronus have to do with anything? Is that why you were on the floor? Did you try to make one and fail epically because you've become even more dark and depressed since you came to live with me because I annoy you so much?"

A long pause greeted that statement, and then Snape gave Lily's system another shock when one corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly in the hint of an actual smile directed at her. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much when you're worried about someone?"

"YES! Now what's wrong?"

"Answer the question."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Lily had to take a moment to remember what the question actually was. "My patronus is a phoenix. Usually they're just common animals you can find in the Muggle World too, but daddy says that given my constant brushes with death and habit of setting things on fire the phoenix thing made sense. I just like it because it's way more brilliant than my brothers'. Though Al's is pretty brilliant too. Why?"

"I was afraid of that."

Going still as a statue when he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against her shoulder, Lily's eyes went even wider so that they all but bulged out of her head. "Sev? Did you just have a stroke?"

"Quiet, Woman."

"Okay, that sounds like you. Now are you going to tell me what's going on? Why aren't you down in the lab watching Alexei make an idiot of himself with the rest of us?"

Straightening up Snape stared at her for several moments and then got to his feet, stating that that's where they should be.

Watching him walk away from her, like they hadn't just had the weirdest moment ever, Lily let out a strangled scream as she made strangling motions with her hands before scrambling to her feet, running after him with the intention to tell him off all the way to the lab for scaring the hell out of her.

Men sucked!

Catching up with him Lily fell into step with him and glared at him in stony anger all the way to the lab, though she wasn't able to hold her anger when they got back to find that Alexei was indeed well on his way to being quite drunk, the Slytherin currently ranting about how Hugo was too damn cute for his own good.

"You are so lucky he's around to distract me from kicking your tight little arse."

She had no idea how right Snape thought she was at that moment.


	29. Hugo, Slytherin Therapist

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the storyline. Thanks for reading.

Hugo, Slytherin Therapist

Given the amount of alcohol being consumed, not to mention the fact that they were in the lab where any number of cooking potions could go badly awry if exposed to even a drop of said liquor, Snape knew that if he were remotely sane he'd be more concerned with insuring that they weren't all blown to kingdom come or caught up in a wizarding duel than he was with his little emotional crisis. But he wasn't feeling particularly sane or logical at the moment, and Snape could only hope that the Lupin standing on the other side of Lily was a great deal more with it and in control than he was. Hoping that Lily would step in if either Dolohov or Hugo tried to do something stupid in their present states would be foolish, the twit was cheering them on after all as she and Teddy apparently had a bet going as to just how long the two would last. You'd think she was watching a bloody football or Quidditch game the way she was carrying on in between giving him worried and angry looks. Looks that insured his continued insanity as they reminded him again and again of what he now knew, threatening what little sanity Snape thought he had left.

He'd fallen for another stubborn, explosion causing redheaded Gryffindor. Merlin help him.

And yet, though it was in his very nature to think that way, Snape couldn't help but ignore the millions of reasons why this, this thing with this Lily would end the same way as his last brush with love had. Instead, he couldn't forget or stop the conversation he'd had with Lily about his past and her feeling for him from repeating over and over inside his head. Well, not really a conversation so much as her attempting to scream him into submission, but he'd never had anyone in his life confront him that way or really wanted to again. The Lily he'd grown up with had lectured and cried when he'd started on the dark path that had led him so far from her, giving up on him after a while and turning from him completely so that she might have killed him on the battlefield to protect her friends and Potter, while he would have never been able to do the same. For that matter, she'd turned away from him before he'd even done the things he was most ashamed of. The things the Lily who stood beside him now had known about before they'd even met for the first time when he'd still been in his portrait at Hogwarts. Many of the people he'd hurt the most with his past actions were individuals she called family or friend, yet she cared about him, had screamed that fact at him and continued to fight for him even when they hadn't had a previous bond to hold them together from the start like the one he'd had with her grandmother. This Lily had plenty of reasons to hate him, yet she held nothing he'd done against him. She forgave him for the part he'd had to play in her grandparents' murder, had outright called said grandfather names and been on his side when it came to the way James and his clique had treated him.

She was ever, it seemed, on his side.

He didn't know what to do or think about that.

The fact that the only one he felt comfortable discussing his current predicament with was presently engaged in a drinking contest didn't help either. He needed Hugo sober at the moment and given the amount of alcohol the Gryffindor had already consumed Snape figured it was going to be a while before the boy was up to giving him anything resembling decent advice. Though Hugo was proving to have an impressive head for alcohol, he'd give his friend that. If he hadn't watched the boy chug back the various kinds of liquor so effortlessly he'd think the boy had only just started drinking given how composed and with it the Gryffindor seemed at the moment.

The same could certainly not be said for the obviously well on his way to being fall down drunk Dolohov, who was probably only upright at the moment through sheer Slytherin stubbornness. Under normal circumstances Snape would have been amused, even though technically his house was being embarrassed at the moment to an extreme degree…but as it was he could only remain behind an indifferent mask for the sake of his own self-preservation.

An elbow connected with his side. "Quit looking so worried, he's beating the pants off of his Darling Dolohov."

"If pants start coming off we're intervening." Teddy's voice made it clear this wasn't open to negotiation. "And we should probably check their vitals so to speak soon, to make sure they aren't poisoning themselves. All three of us will end up as dead as the majority of my family tree if Hugo ends up in St. Mungos twice in one day."

"Quit your bloody yapping, you pansy arsed, Gryffindor." The words were very slurred, but Alexei point was made. "We're fine."

"Change that to just check Hugo out then." Was Teddy's new opinion after shooting the drunk Slytherin the middle finger, having never been a fan of either Alexei's family or the man himself.

Keeping her voice down Lily told both Snape and Teddy not to worry, Alexei was obviously on his last rope no matter what the idiot seemed to think. Then they could all get back to doing more important things after maybe taking some embarrassing pictures of Dolohov. Just so that they could look back on this for years to come…and maybe blackmail him a little if need be. Or just for fun.

"I'm not letting you do that last part." He and Dolohov were Slytherins, and that meant they stuck up for each other, especially when their opponents were Gryffindors. Especially then.

"Spoilsport."

"Evil witch."

"Slytherin."

"Gryffindor."

Shaking his head over both of them, as well as a little creeped out by the vibe he was getting from the two of them, Teddy shoved his hands deep in his pockets and focused his sole attention on the two men who were ignoring all of them to continue their little competition.

)

No one was surprised when, a few drinks later, Alexei's face hit the table and stayed down until Hugo got out of his chair and all but lunged over to lift the Slytherin's head up to make sure the boy hadn't hurt himself when his face had met wood. Alexei's face, he informed the others, was far too beautiful and lovely to be messed up due to a badly broken nose or chipped teeth. Not that those things couldn't be fixed with magic of course, but seeing his face marred even for a few minutes would make him want to cry. He was always overly emotional when he had had a lot to drink.

"But thankfully he's just unconscious. He didn't break his poor little nose."

All three of the spectators had to work hard not to laugh at Hugo's longwinded and not entirely sequential speech, only reining themselves in because they were aware of just how important Dolohov was to Hugo, as well as figuring that it would be for the best if they didn't say anything to set their sorta drunk loved one off, just in case.

"We definitely can't just take him home and leave him there, he needs supervision." Hugo announced after carefully rearranging the Slytherin's head so that he wouldn't be crushing his nose. "We should take him up to the house so that he can lie down and-Oh, we can use my bed!" Hugo's eyes actually lit up with excitement for a moment before dimming slightly as reality sank in. "Maybe not. He might cause a book avalanche when he wakes up, or trip and hurt himself on all my books when he gets up. I bet he's even more violent and likely to curse me when he's mad AND hung over."

Everyone wincing at the mental images their minds conjured up as to how Alexei might react in such a situation, Lily announced that Alexei would sleep off the booze on the couch. She'd even be willing to feed him provided he wasn't a complete and total arse when he woke up.

"And I'll watch over him until he wakes up." Brightening back up Hugo beamed at them, absolutely delighted with this turn of events. He'd get to watch Alexei while he slept after all.

"We'll watch over him." Snape tacked on, fairly sure that if Alexei woke up and found just Hugo watching him the results would not be pretty, especially since the other boy had lost the bet on top of everything else. Dolohovs had almost as much ego and pride as Blacks after all.

"Okay!" Punching a fist in the air Hugo told Snape to take one arm and he'd take the other. They'd let Lily and Teddy get back to their lolly creating.

"I don't know about this, you're partly drunk and Sev's got a few screws loose today..."

Telling Hugo to ignore her Snape gave Lily the best death glare he was up to aiming in her direction and then moved in to take Alexei's right arm, Hugo copying the action on the other side. Both men waving off Teddy's offer to assist them they headed out of the lab with Alexei between them.

Carrying the Slytherin by magic would have been easier, but Snape and Hugo were both in the mood to do something physical and Snape was smart enough to figure that Hugo just wanted the excuse to touch Alexei without risking severe bodily harm. So they wobbled and weaved a little, but they finally got into the house and managed to deposit Alexei onto the couch without causing him any physical damage as an added bonus.

Once they had Alexei's on the couch Hugo moved the table in front of the couch off to the side, and then promptly sat down on his bum with his elbows braced on his knees, his head in his hands as he beamed at the sight of Alexei's unconscious face. To say the boy was obviously thrilled beyond words to be so close to the Slytherin without getting yelled at for a change would be an understatement, drunk or not.

Shaking his head over the whole thing Snape took a seat nearby, feeling better now that he was away from Lily and could just think his thoughts without having to worry about someone catching on that there was something going on he really didn't want to talk about. Hugo was obviously lost in his happy Alexei world and there was no way Dolohov was going to-

"So what's wrong?" Hugo's voice cut through Snape's thoughts. "Something's definitely off about you, and I could tell Lily was worried earlier. Did you two have another confrontation?"

"How did you even notice through your alcohol haze?"

Hugo made a dismissive sound, glancing over to smile at him before turning his attention back to Alexei. "I have a high tolerance, like I said. It would take a lot more than what I just drank to put me under the table. And even when I am drunk I'm still much smarter than the average person, which is really irritating to some people, especially ones like Alexei. So what happened?"

To buy himself some time Snape asked if Hugo was sure that Alexei was actually unconscious and not just playing possum out of embarrassment. He did not want their conversation being overheard.

A considering look crossing his face, Hugo shifted up to his feet and then leaned over Alexei's prone body, whispering something into the Slytherin's ear that Snape couldn't catch from where he was sitting. When Alexei didn't so much as move a muscle Hugo assured him that there was no way the man was faking it.

The thought that he wanted to know what the Gryffindor had just said to try and get a reaction out of the other boy came and quickly went. Snape didn't doubt for a moment he probably really didn't want to know. It was also on the tip of his tongue to lie as he'd never lied before, and for him that was really, really saying something, but he wasn't completely without common sense either, and Snape knew that Hugo really was the only person he could talk to about this in the whole world. The only friend he really had, since things with Lily were too complicated for words.

So instead he took a moment to gather his courage and then admitted the truth. "My patronus wasn't a doe. It was a bird."

Head turning so that their eyes met as Hugo returned to his early position, there was understanding in Hugo's as the Gryffindor processed the implications of what had just been revealed to him. "Does she know?"

"No."

"Okay then. I won't say anything to her. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know."

)

Since he was pretty sure the change in patronus had pretty solidly rocked his friend's world, and not necessarily in a good way, Hugo had no intention of forcing the other man to talk about his feelings or tell him what he thought he should and shouldn't do. If Severus wanted his advice than his friend would ask, and when he did Hugo would do his best to subtly steer the man in the right direction. Slytherins, in his experience, were much easier to handle if they thought that everything they did was their own idea. Manipulating them into doing what you wanted them to do and making them think it was what they wanted to wasn't always easy, but doable if you studied the Slytherin in question long enough. Of course he'd been studying Alexei for years without a whole lot of luck, but he was still hopeful that one of these days he'd get his way. And have his way with the Slytherin, period. But that was a thought for another time even though the other man was stretched out in front of him like an offering from the gods.

He was just so yummy looking, Hugo thought with a dreamy little sigh, his gaze naturally gravitating back to his favorite Slytherin's face.

"Why don't you try and get over him? He's made it pretty clear he'll fight you tooth and nail even if he were to fancy you sometime down the road."

"Well, in the words of Pablo Neruda, '"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this'. In other words…love isn't something that can be so easily controlled or explained. It happens and if we're really lucky it's returned. And when you're lucky enough to love someone, well I've always felt it's wrong to not take care of it even if you're the only one. He would never say it, but I hope on some level my feelings for Alexei make him happy." A thought occurring to him Hugo turned back to look at Severus. "Is my love a burden for you?"

The flush that climbed over Severus's cheekbones would have made Hugo grin under other circumstances, but this was serious so he simply smiled and waited patiently for his friend to answer.

"No. It's not…a burden."

"Good."

As Hugo watched Severus came over to stand at his side, surprising him when he knelt on the floor so that they were both watching over the still sleeping Slytherin together. But Hugo was happy for the company, and reached over to take his friend's hand in his, giving it a friendly squeeze of affection before letting go again since Severus could only take so much affection in one sitting.

"I don't know what to do now."

Hugo shook his head, marveling as always at the peculiarities of the average human being. "You don't have to do anything, Severus. Just move at your own pace and be open to the possibilities ahead. You already know that she cares about you too, and that's the biggest hurdle when it comes to love as it is."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't make sense to you because you think that you're unlovable. You don't get the fact that you're fine just the way you are. She cares about you now, even though you've been plenty nasty to her over the last few months you've been with us. People who think they need to change to get someone to love them are missing the whole point. You want someone to love you for you, warts and all. And people don't really change anyway, not who they really are, so it's all pretend when they try to be someone else anyway."

Seeing the expression Snape made Hugo sighed and shook his head again. "You're a good person who made mistakes. I didn't mean that in a bad way. Heck, the things you're probably ashamed of doing in the past were mostly a result of you pretending to be someone other than who you really were. At your core you're a very, very good person, I'm sure of it. And good people make mistakes just as often as bad people."

"I thought you believed in everyone?"

"I believe we can choose to be better than we are in small ways." Unable to control himself anymore Hugo reached out to stroke Alexei's hair, smiling in dumb pleasure as the silky strands ran through his fingers. "He has such nice hair, doesn't he?"

"I'll take your word for it."

Chuckling, Hugo picked up where he'd left off earlier. "When you love someone you do little things for them and show them you love them that way. Like how Al and Scorpius both tolerate the other's families even though they don't want to, or how we refrain from gagging my cousin Molly and Uncle Percy when they get into a rant about whatever they're working on at the Ministry no matter how much they tempt us. We all have quirks and do things the people who love us don't like, but so long as we try not to annoy the heck out of each other too much, love isn't that hard to nurture and maintain."

The look Snape gave him made it clear the Slytherin still didn't get it, but Hugo hoped that in time it would sink in.

Eventually.

Slytherin heads could be unbelievably hard.


	30. Bet On It

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Note to regular readers, next week I'm on vacation so if there are updates they won't be up until the weekend as opposed to my usual Friday posting. Thanks.

Bet On It

Due to Alexei being a Slytherin Snape assured Lily that their passed out guest would wake up in time for dinner when she came back into the house after seeing Teddy off, his prediction turning out to be true as Alexei did indeed wake up thirty minutes before dinner was scheduled to go on the table. After consuming a hangover remedy he was bribed with Alexei was willing to stay for dinner, though that mostly had to do with the fact that he loved pot roast and could smell it from the front parlor. The fact that Hugo had requested that particular menu choice for that very reason wisely went unsaid by the house's other occupants as they all took seats at the dining room table.

In the interest of self-preservation no one mentioned the bet the Slytherin had lost so epically, though the occasional scowl Alexei sent in Hugo's direction made it clear that he did remember and was more than ready to jinx the first person that reminded him that he'd lost to the bane of his existence.

But of course it had to eventually be mentioned since Hugo had won a weekly date with Alexei, and had absolutely no intention of letting the other man welsh on the bet. He might be one of the nicest guys ever born, but he'd also been waiting for this opportunity for as long as he'd fancied Alexei. And that was a really long time.

Glaring in Hugo's direction over the question of when he was free that coming weekend, Alexei knew why the brat was asking, he pointed the prongs of his fork in the Gryffindor's direction to punctuate his response. "This is this week's date, Weasley."

Hugo considered that for a moment and then nodded in agreement. He'd go along with that, especially since he knew Alexei wouldn't be so thrilled about their next date. "If you wish. Our date next week will be in the Muggle World though, so heads up now that you're going to have to dress to blend in with them. Lily and Severus are coming too, so it will be a double date."

While Lily and Snape looked everywhere but at each other Alexei just frowned that much harder. "We're-have you lost your-Muggles?! Has that brain of yours finally exploded without us noticing somehow?"

"We're going to see a movie with an actor that looks like Severus." Beaming a smile at Alexei Hugo had no intention of backing down, especially since this could potentially help out his cousin and friend when it came to their growing relationship as well.

"What the hell is a movie?"

Since the question had been directed towards him Snape briefly explained the concept of a motion picture, Alexei visibly intrigued by the idea though he made some effort to hide it once he realized he was showing interest in something Muggle created. But his curiosity was such that after he confirmed that Snape was going to be there too Alexei relented to going, though only because he was a man of his word and not because he wanted to spend time with Hugo. Just so that was clear.

"Crystal." Lily assured him with much eye rolling.

Trying to win points Hugo pointed out that at least he wasn't expecting Alexei to pay for the movie or the concession stand food. They really overcharged when it came to snacks, and he'd be buying lots because of course Alexei would have never had Muggle treats before, and this was a golden opportunity to remedy that.

Opening his mouth to inform Hugo that he could care less about trying Muggle food, which was a lie, it suddenly occurred to Alexei what Hugo was basically insinuating here. "I'm not the girl in this stupid dating plan of yours! I'll buy my own stuff!"

"But if we went dutch every time they wouldn't really be dates, now would they?" Hugo pointed out, having already planned his next moves out where Alexei was concerned. To be thoughtfully he even waited until the Slytherin had swallowed before adding the kicker. "Unless you're going to be physical affectionate on these dates. Then going dutch is allowed."

"We'll take turns paying."

"All right."

While Alexei glared death glares at Hugo, and her cousin just smiled back because that was her baby for her, Lily turned her attention to Snape, who had said very little during the whole meal which was really unlike him. They'd all given him opportunities to say nasty or sarcastic things and he hadn't. Proof, she knew, that there was something seriously wrong with him.

"So, Sev...any particular Muggle candy or treat you'll be looking for next week?"

"No."

Well at least he was being abrupt, Lily told herself as she refilled her water glass to give herself something to do. That was sorta the Slytherin she knew and loved. "My dad always pigs out on Mars bars when he gets the chance. He pays my cousin Finn, Petunia's grandson, to buy him some before we visit every time. Finn's not at all like Petunia by the way, thank Merlin. He's a sweetie. He's lucky too, because he takes after the Evans side when it comes to looks. Did you ever see the size of a Dursley? It's not pretty."

"Yes, I'm aware Tuney married a man as fat as she is or was thin. I had rather hoped he'd roll over on her one night and suffocate her." The second part was muttered, but Lily caught it and laughed.

"We're not big fans of them either. Uncle Dudley, their son, does try a little, enough to see us anyway. We don't really look forward to seeing him, but it goes all right usually. A couple of times his parents showed up while we were there and yeah...I wouldn't be terribly upset if he were to flatten her good and proper."

The two exchanged equally amused looks.

And just like that they had hit on a topic that could carry them through dinner, Snape always enjoying a chance to speak badly and defame Petunia Evans Dursley, Lily eating up the stories with a spoon and storing them away for future blackmail or payback to throw in her great aunt's face the next time the opportunity presented itself.

Hugo of course thought they shouldn't gossip, but Alexei only egged Snape on until they'd gotten all the way through the meal and dessert with Petunia supplying more than enough fodder to keep them laughing hysterically, even Alexei.

)

After dinner was over and Alexei announced that he was going home, Hugo announced in turn that he was going with the Slytherin to see him to his door. This was a date after all and therefore seeing Alexei home safely was his duty as a proper date. Everyone else thought this was a crazy idea of course, especially Alexei who pointed out that Hugo had failed his Apparitions tests multiple times back in the day because the curly haired idiot had problems focusing on where he was going all the time.

That was true, Hugo agreed, but not an issue here since whenever he was around Alexei he focused solely on him. It was why he'd survived so long in the man's company.

The other three couldn't really argue with that, they were all in agreement that not paying absolute attention to Alexei when you were in his vicinity could very well result in very bad things happening to you. So after some arguing back and forth, Hugo's Weasley stubbornness coming into play in a big way, Hugo and a very annoyed Alexei headed off into the night, the two still arguing about Hugo's insistence in coming right up until they vanished from sight, leaving Lily and Snape alone in the house.

"Sooooooooo...you wanna play some Wizarding Chess with me? At least with me you have a sliver of a chance of winning, unlike with Hugo."

Raising an eyebrow Snape gave Lily his most condensed look. "A sliver of a chance?"

"I have mad skills, I'll have you know. And I'm not above beating the pants off you just because I like you." Lily grinned at him, wiggling her eyebrows for emphasis.

Snape scowled back at her in response, though there was no real bite to his words when he informed her that she'd be the one crying into her Butterbeer before the night was over.

"Care to bet on that? About who can win the most games tonight before we call it quits or you need to go to bed, Old Man?"

"What stakes do you propose, Potter?"

Surprised that he was playing along, he really was in an odd mood today, Lily thought about it a moment and then decided to risk it, being too much of a Gryffindor not to. "Same stakes as Hugo and Dolohov played for?"

Surprise written all over his face Snape stared at her, the Slytherin not at all ready for this turn of events to take place. He needed more time to plan his next move, to decide what he was going to do about his feelings for the woman who stared back at him, her eyes dancing with devilment as she waited to see if he would take her dare.

And yet...and yet wasn't this a way to test the waters so to speak?

Dammit, why wasn't Hugo here to consult with about this?

"Well, how about it, Slytherin? Are you man enough to take me on?"

"You couldn't not talk to me for a whole year. It's beyond you."

Opening her mouth Lily paused and then closed it again, coming to the same conclusion herself. It wasn't in her nature not to talk, not to mention the fact that it would be really hard for them to work together if she had to write down instructions or comments every time. The novelty of it would wear off in no time at all.

"Technically that doesn't matter, since I'm going to wipe the floor with you and rub your face in this for years to come...but if you really want to play fair then what do you want as your reward if a miracle happens and you win?"

Lifting a finger to cue her that he needed a moment to consider what he wanted that she could give, Snape mentally ran through the various quirks she had that annoyed the hell out of him since that struck him as a good place to start. Then he hit on an idea that had him actually smiling a little as he announced his choice.

"If I win more games, you aren't allowed to mention my trouble sleeping or do anything about it ever again unless I bring it up or ask."

"No way, that's not fair!"

"Problem, Potter? You did say that you'd win, remember? You were quite certain, weren't you? A moment ago."

Huffing out a breath Lily actually had to stop herself from stomping her foot, not liking this condition one little bit. And there actually was a chance she'd lose since she hadn't played in forever since constantly having her arse handed to her by Hugo tended to get old really quickly. Plus he had several decades more experience, and-and...dammit, he was giving her that smug, superior Slytherin grin that made her want to wipe it off badly enough to agree to his terms without thinking this through. Which he knew, of course. It was probably why he was smirking at her in the first place. Damn Slytherin bastard.

"Chickening out?" Snape practically purred the words. "How very Gryffindor of you."

"Oh...them's fighting words."

"And you're all talk, it seems."

"You're on then-with one condition." Lily decided, getting her request out quick before she could take it back. "Sometimes, when you're dreaming, you talk about 'them', like there's more than one person you're dreaming of losing. Who's the other person you cared about? It's been driving me batty, wondering who you could mean, and if I give you my word about not talking about it I'll have to keep it, and eventually not knowing will drive me straight to a permanent bed in St. Mungos. And if that happens you and Hugo are going to have to cook for yourselves, no chicken pot pie for you, so you shouldn't want that to happen."

"That-that is none of your business."

"But I wanna know!"

"No condition, take it or leave it." He was not about to admit that even at the start he'd feared that something would happen to this Lily and Hugo while they were under his care. That they too would come to a bad end simply because they had been so determined from the beginning to wiggle their way into his life. He'd go to his grave again happily first.

Bottom lip popping out Lily gave him the puppy dog eyes on top of it, but to no avail. "Okay, fine. But if I end up insane you have to come visit me regularly and bring flowers. And chocolate. And the monthly issue of all my potions magazines as soon as they arrive in the mail. Oh, and Hugo of course."

Rolling his eyes because really, what did he find so attractive about this twit, Snape simply held out a hand for her to shake.

"Slytherins."

But she took the offered hand, and they shook on their bet.

)

Lying on his bed in his room, he'd had so much excitement that day he just couldn't sleep, Hugo Weasley couldn't really be bothered to read the book he was holding as he was too busy mentally going over all the fun he'd had with Alexei. It was really rare for one of their encounters to go so well, and he really wanted to savor it before their next date, which Alexei would no doubt spend the week plotting to ruin to the best of his Slytherin abilities. And when it came to that sort of thing Alexei had mad skills, so he was definitely going to have to be at the top of his game to survive it. Thank Merlin Lily and Severus would be there for backup as well, if they didn't kill each other beforehand.

But it was for the best that he not think about that, Hugo told himself as he pushed those thoughts to the side. No, for the moment he was going to just wallow in the fact that he'd managed to give Alexei a kiss on the cheek before leaving the Slytherin's doorstep, the other man too stunned to curse or jinx him before he'd gotten out of there in a hurry. And next week maybe he could-

Crash

Eyebrows rising, that was the third loud crash he'd heard even though he was all the way on the third floor, Hugo mentally debated with himself for a couple minutes before bookmarking his place and then getting out of bed to go down and see for himself, once again, that everything was all right with his two roommates.

They were taking these chess matches far too seriously.

Walking down the stairs while muffling the odd yawn, what time was it anyway, Hugo made his way down into the parlor with the hope that the two would in fact be in bed, and that the crash had come from an intruder that had made the monumental mistake of breaking into their house. But no, it was Lily and Severus still, Lily cursing the chess board in French while Snape sipped away at something in a mug. Lips twitching over that fact, the empty cups that had been set off to the side around the two hinting at the large amounts of caffeine they'd both been drinking to stay up as long as possible, Hugo walked over and leaning against Severus's side asked what that noise a few minutes ago had been, since he didn't see any wreckage.

Ordering his knight to move into its next position Snape waited until it was there before turning to meet Hugo's gaze, the man's dark eyes tired and just a little crazed. "The twit fell out of her chair and took it with her."

"Because you tried to cheat, you Slytherin scum!" Rubbing her hands over her eyes, it was just as obvious to Hugo that Lily was exhausted too, and wanted nothing more than to call it a night. But Weasleys could teach stubbornness to mules, and she told her pawn where to go with a yawn tacked onto the end for emphasis.

Glaring at her Snape muttered something under his breath and then turned his attention back to the board, telling her that that was rich coming from a Gryffindor.

Shaking his head over the name calling Hugo thought this was a really sad commentary on the way educational institutions pitted their students against each other by promoting stereotypes and putting said students in competition constantly. Yes it was a way of motivating them to strive for excellence, but it also taught them to judge others by superficial titles like house names. Not that he was going to say so now since it would just fall on deaf ears. Instead Hugo simply stated that they really should call an end to the matches for the night, they could always play some more tomorrow.

"We have a bet going."

"Yes, Lily, you told me that the other two times I came down hear to find out what all the noise was about."

"She's just mad that she's losing."

"By one. Because you cheated!"

"You only wish you had that as an excuse, Potter."

"Watch it, Snakey! We're surrounded by farmland here, lots of places to hide a body. Don't mess with me when I'm this caffeinated!"

Looking back and forth between them Hugo sighed then told them both that they couldn't kill each other under his orders. And he was going back to bed so good night. Again.

Neither even noticed him leave.


	31. A First Date

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's going to stay.

A First Date

Snape would admit, to himself and only after the fact, that he was actually a little sorry he hadn't let Lily win the impromptu chess tournament. Of course the fact that she was now banned from bringing up his sleeping problems was brilliant, but at the same time the whole forced dating thing would have given him a chance to actually experience what it would be like to go out with Lily without actually having to do any asking or committing to something he wasn't ready for. But oh no, his damn competitive streak, paired with his to the bone refusal to lose to a Gryffindor AND Potter, had led to his brain forgetting all about the advantages of losing and had focused instead on crushing her like a bug. Which he'd done, sort of. He'd won by two games and she'd sulked over that for four days, which would have made him feel bad except she baked when she was in a bad mood and he'd gotten to eat like a king until she finally thrown her defeat off and went back to her normal, crazy self.

So the movie night was the only date they had in the foreseeable future, and Snape found himself feeling ridiculously nervous about that fact.

He hadn't been on a date in so long he couldn't really remember it. Part of that was the fact that he wouldn't have wanted whoever he'd gone out with as part of his cover, but the rest was just because he wasn't the dating type. He might understand how to be friends with someone, somewhat, but he was seriously out of his depth when it came to romantic relationships. And when he'd said as much to Hugo the boy's advice was to treat a date the way you would an outing with a close friend that you also wanted to kiss and be close to all the time.

Snape was fairly sure that he'd blushed like the school boy he felt like when Hugo had said that.

At least he didn't have to worry about what to wear though, his Muggle clothes already having been vetted by Lily after he'd refused her offer to get him a shirt that stated he wasn't Alan Rickman, just in case any of the 'Die Hard' fans tried to mob him. Merlin help them if she wasn't joking and any of the Muggles did try to mob him, especially when he had a fellow Slytherin and Lily for backup. She would think it funny at first, she was twisted and annoying that way, but she'd come to his aid if it got really bad if for no other reason than to protect the Muggles from their own stupidity.

And mobbing or not there was no going back on this outing, nerves or not, and Snape mourned that fact throughout the week because he had to be there to make sure that nothing went wrong with Hugo and Alexei's 'date'. He didn't trust Lily to get their boy out of trouble alive, especially when it would be a Dolohov threatening Hugo's life if the boy did something to light Alexei's very easily lit temper.

Really, all three of them needed keepers as far as he was concerned, and Snape was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he might be the poor bastard stuck in that role until he was mercifully put back in the ground again for the second and hopefully last time.

Of course a life with Lily was a life spent courting death...so maybe he would only have to babysit them for a little while before that happened.

Pretty much the only silver lining of the week leading up to the date was the fact that he'd opened a bank vault for himself and been able to put his own money into it. As his aunt had promised she'd seen to it that he was given more than enough to live off of provided he was careful with it, and that on top of the money he earned working with Lily he was once again independent and financially solvent. Continuing to live off of her would have done more damage than his already battered ego could have stood for much longer. He still lived with her and Hugo, but his wage reflected his room and board so that was tolerable. His own place would have been better...or maybe not. He'd sort of gotten use to living with two people who actually liked him and weren't planning to kill him half the time.

A novel experience, to say the least.

"Careful, no blowing yourself up before our date."

Turning his head Snape met Lily's gaze for a moment and then looked down at the potion he'd been making and the hand that had grabbed his own wrist to prevent him from-completely ruining the concoction and potentially blowing them up if he'd put too much of what he was holding into the caldron. "Did I pour any in?"

"Do you think I'd let you stand that close to it if you had? And here you're always saying that I'm the one who's going to send us both to sing with the angels." Smirking at him Lily let go of his wrist now that she knew he was focused again. "So what were you daydreaming about, anyway? You didn't even hear me come in, and I wasn't exactly quiet."

As he had zero intention of cluing Lily in to how completely she and this date were messing with his head, Snape mentally sorted through the list of other things on his mind until he came to one that he was fairly sure would work. "I was thinking about Pricilla. She was having a bad day when I dropped in to see her with Hugo yesterday."

"It has to be hard for her, being stuck there with her grip on reality so precarious. And now that she's lost her son...are you worried she's going to choose to fade away?"

"Perhaps. She has no one left."

"She has you." Lily pointed out.

"And most would agree that that's not saying much." He held up a hand to quiet the rebuttal she would no doubt have for that. "Sharing blood doesn't make one family. She might enjoy my company, but I'm no substitute for the loved ones she's lost."

"I get that."

"Oh really, and who have you lost, Miss. Potter?"

Lily shook her head. "I don't mean that way. I've been really lucky that way. But all my life I've been surrounded by people who've lost loved ones, multiple loved ones in some cases. Uncle George will never really get over Uncle Fred's death, and Teddy's grandmother...I don't think she'd have survived her grief after she lost her husband and child if not for Teddy. Even as a child I could see it, how much he meant to her and the quiet sadness she carries with her everywhere. Sometimes you can see it in her eyes too...and you want to burst out crying for her sake, because she refuses to cry herself."

He hadn't been terribly fond of Tonks, she'd been a klutzy class clown who had not been particularly enjoyable to teach or work with in the Order even before she'd gone all moony over Lupin. But he had been sorry to hear of her demise after returning to this plane of existence. He hadn't known Andromeda Tonk's husband at all either, simply by reputation and the stories that had circulated regarding the infamous in his day love affair between a Black and a Muggleborn.

"She had her one. That makes her luckier than most."

"Why, Sev, that's almost romantic. And very true. We should all be so lucky in love." And on that note Lily gave Snape a kiss on the cheek before asking if he wanted help with the potion he was working on.

"No." A pause. "But thank you."

"You're welcome." Leaving him to his work Lily headed overt to her own potions for the day, both thinking to themselves that in just a couple days they had a sorta date with the other.

It was bound to be an interesting night.

)

Standing in front of the mirror two days later Lily critiqued and quickly started shrugging out of the clothes she'd donned for their night out at the movies. This was the fifth outfit she'd tried on and discarded, and not being a total idiot all of the time Lily was well aware of the fact that she was over thinking this way too much. It was just the movies for Merlin's sake, and it wasn't like Snape ever really noticed what she was wearing anyway unless it showed too much skin for his twentieth century morals. And if she really dressed up Alexei would notice and tease her unmercifully about it, since unlike the other two Dolohov did tend to dress well and notice what others wore as well. So really she should just wear what she would if she were just going out with Hugo and to hell with trying to impress a guy she wasn't even really going on a date with even if she wished they were.

But dammit, she wanted to look pretty for him.

Making a sound of frustration, something she did when it came to Snape a lot these days, Lily sighed and then marched over to her closet and resolutely forced herself to think only about what she'd normally wear for a night like this.

And so a couple minutes later Lily was decked out in a white peasant's blouse that showed off her shoulders nicely and black capri pants. She would not be changing from this outfit no matter what. And now it was time for accessories, which posed just as much of a dilemma. Only the thought of what the men would have to say if she kept them waiting for such a stupid reason kept Lily focused and determined to be ready by the appointed time. Her Slytherin valued punctuality after all.

Adding hoop earrings and some bracelets Lily moved on to mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss, and then declared herself done and ready to go with ten minutes to spare after she'd glanced in the direction of the clock on her bedside table.

Damn, she hadn't been this nervous since her first date. And even then she'd only been this nervous because she was worried that James and Teddy would decide to drop in to Hogsmeade to supervise the date, possibly dragging Albus with them even though her youngest brother had promised not to interfere. They hadn't, thank Merlin, but after she'd broken up with the guy for cheating on her her brothers had sent the prat Howlers, and James had bribed someone into slipping something into the guy's pumpkin juice that had given him explosive diarrhoea for a few days. And while she'd appreciated the gestures, those little pranks had meant she'd spent the rest of that year basically dateless because all the blokes were too afraid of her brothers to dare ask her out.

Snape wouldn't be afraid of them though. He'd probably laugh in their faces if they threatened him in any way, especially if it was about dating her. Mostly because the Slytherin had made himself very clear when it came to his determination to live in denial when it came to her.

Thankfully her brothers didn't know yet, which proved just how well they did denial since they should know her taste in men by now and realize that Severus Snape was exactly her type. But then the men in her family were just pants when it came to romance, so really she shouldn't be surprised. Plus it was for the best that they stay in the dark since she'd never get anywhere with Severus with three well meaning idiots breathing down their necks.

And Merlin only help her when the rest of her family found out, they'd all had plenty to say about the fact that the former Potions Master was living with her and Hugo. The fact that none of them really knew Snape since he'd been playing a role ever since he'd teamed up with Dumbledore had been pointed out by both her and Hugo, but their words hadn't really made a dent with the older crowd. Hence the fact that she hadn't drank much when it came to alcohol at the party, not wanting to risk blurting out the fact that she hoped that in the future she'd be bringing the man with her as her date to other family events.

Making a face in her mirror, oh yeah, that was going to be a fun family announcement if it ever happened, Lily rolled her eyes and then decided to get her bum downstairs and see what the boys had gotten up to in her absence. And if they were dressed appropriately since she and Alexei would have to be seen with them in public.

)

As planned Alexei arrived at the house at the exact appointed time in Muggle acceptable clothes and a look on his face that said he'd rather be having teeth pulled them be doing on a double date with them. Of course Alexei wasn't exactly a cheerful person to begin with unless he was playing Quidditch or utterly destroying someone mentally so that they needed decades of therapy according to Lily, so that was to be expected.

Alexei's response to that was to state that the fact that she was coming too made the whole thing even more hellish.

"It will be fine, you'll see. You might even have fun." Hugo's hopeful smile was so powerful not even the force of the Slytherin's scowl could dim it more than a few volts.

Shaking her head over the testosterone poisoning she was going to be inhaling for the evening Lily interrupted before a fight she hadn't started could break out. "Well I think we should get the fun started and head out. There's safety in numbers."

"Safety in numbers?" Snape repeated.

"Yeah. As in Alexei is a lot less likely to start maiming Gryffindors if there's Muggles all around who will eventually figure out that we aren't filming a movie of our own and that they're looking at someone who can actually do magic."

"It would be all over Youtube in minutes. The Ministry would be beyond angry too." Hugo added helpfully, thinking of other magical accidents that had been captured electronically by Muggles and posted online. Convincing the people that had seen it happen or the video footage that it was all a hoax, CGI'd, or just a really amazing magic trick wasn't always easy, especially when you were dealing with extreme circumstances.

Neither Slytherin knew anything or much about Youtube, so that conversation kept them occupied once they'd apparated to a safe spot in London that was only a few blocks from the movie theatre. The idea that images of them could be recorded and seen by pretty much half the world's population in less than a day if deemed interesting unnerved the hell out of the two Slytherins, and the two Gryffindors agreed that it was indeed for the best that they didn't interact with cellphone carrying Muggles much. Especially Lily, the other three agreed, because Merlin only knew what she'd be caught doing.

"I resent that. Hugo's videos would be way more popular than mine."

"That would depend on what you were doing in the video." Hugo argued, being the type to look at things from all points of view before passing judgement on any topic. "You look better naked after all."

Lily had to laugh at that. "True enough."

"Alright, change of subject before I jinx you both to Hogwarts and back again." The looks Alexei aimed in each of their directions made it clear he wasn't joking.

And since neither Lily nor Hugo wanted Alexei thinking about what Lily looked like naked the two were more than willing to change the subject to the fact that the movie was really old, even by Severus's standards, so it wouldn't be nearly as impressive as what Muggles were producing these days. But in both their opinions the movie had aged relatively well except for the horrible fashion sense, since the eighties had not been a good decade in that regard.

Arriving at their destination Lily and Hugo were quite amused to see at least a few people take a second look when it came to Snape, no doubt seeing the resemblance between the man and one of the actors they'd come to watch onscreen. But they weren't mobbed, thankfully, though Lily was a little disappointed since it would have been hilarious if they had been.

Still, when they went up to the counter to pay the first thing the girl serving them said was, 'Oh my God, you look just like Alan Rickman!', followed by the question of whether or not he was related to the actor.

"No. Two adults for Die Hard." Snape withdrew the bills from his pocket and handed them over.

Surprised, because obviously she was the one he was paying for, Lily gave him a questioning look as she stated that she was perfectly fine paying for herself. They could call this a double date all they wanted after all, but she'd basically railroaded Snape into agreeing to come in the first place, Hugo's presence and well-being the reasons he let her.

"This might be the twenty-first century, but in my day a gentleman paid for the lady and you're here with me. I'm paying."

Cheeks pinking a little at being called a lady, Snape usually had less appealing terms for her, Lily slid her arm into his and didn't argue the point. She was fine being his lady, even if only for an evening.

When it was his turn Hugo handed over the money for him and Alexei, everyone grateful that the Slytherin didn't argue about who was paying again seeing as they'd have an audience this time around. From there it was over to the concession stand to get their food, Snape staring in horror at the prices on the lit up menu boards.

"Bloody hell."

"I know, right." Lily shook her head in complete understanding. "They're like goblins, really. Can't get enough of our money and eager to squeeze it out of us whenever possible."

Recalling the prices when he was a lad and even as a young man Snape, could only shake his head over the inflation. It was robbery, absolute highway robbery. But he still had to pay the piper so to speak, and thankfully he'd brought extra money in case they ended up going to a late dinner or something after the film. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case now.

Once they all had their very, very overpriced junk food and drinks in hand it was time to head into their assigned theatre and take their seats before the show began.


	32. A Wonderful Evening

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all characters in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be. Thanks so much for reading, hope you review and let me know what you think!

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

A Wonderful Evening

Snape had never been much for movies, he'd only really ever gone to them because of Lily after he'd finally given up trying to become friends with any of the Muggles that lived in his neighbourhood when he was about seven or so. And once he'd lost Lily to her Gryffindor friends for good he's stripped his life of everything that reminded him of her or the Muggles he'd once been surrounded by, and after her death…there had been very few things that were capable of entertaining him even if he'd been in the mood for a movie. Most of the things that had still made him happy at that point had involved tormenting Gryffindors, which made the fact that he'd gone to the movies with two of them more than a little ironic to the Slytherin's way of thinking after the fact.

It wasn't a bad movie either, Snape appreciated the fact that the actor who looked like him wasn't a bumbling villain who lost in the end due to sheer incompetence against an opponent that should have easily been ended. It was obvious that no matter how skilled and intelligent the German was, there was no way he'd stood a chance of beating John McClaine. The movie couldn't end that way after all. In the real world though, Snape was sure his actor's counterpart would have done away with the Gryffindor wannabe easily enough. And if nothing else, at least it wasn't a girlie movie.

"They showed her breasts." Alexei said for the third time since they'd left the theater. "I can't believe they were allowed to do that."

"Oh that's nothing compared to what you can find on Muggle television these days." Hugo told him as he licked the ice cream they'd opted to get as a last treat before heading home. "Though given that such things are much more censored in our world, not to mention the fact that you're gay, I can see why it would be such a shock to you."

Scowling at Hugo Alexei silently made it clear that he didn't like what he thought the Gryffindor was implying, which was that he couldn't handle the sight of two round balls of fat. Please. Of course he could. It had just been a bit of a shock, seeing them out of the blue like that. And it had been his first movie as well, though maybe not his last as it had been surprisingly entertaining, particularly when the police had by and large been portrayed as complete morons.

"So Sev, did the boob shot surprise you too?" Lily teased, giving him a light hip check.

"After seeing 'Jaws' it would take a lot for a movie to surprise me." Though yes, it actually had. Not that he was going to admit that. She'd be on him like Jaws during a feeding frenzy.

"You saw 'Jaws'? In the theater?" Hugo and Lily asked in perfect tandem, their eyes wide and terribly impressed.

Snape nodded, not wanting to admit that that had been the second last movie he'd seen. He'd followed Lily one night, and she'd been so freaked out by the unseen shark that he hadn't been able to stay in the back of the theater, coming down the aisles to her instinctively. Thankfully the person beside her had been willing to move, and he'd taken the bloke's seat and held Lily's hand for the rest of the movie, walking her home afterwards. It was one of the few good teenage memories he had before it had officially ended between them.

"That is so brilliant. I love that movie. I mean the sequels got progressively worse, but that`s usually the case, anyway. The book was utter rubbish though." Lily made a face just remembering slogging through that book when she was a teenager. She`d only picked it up because she`d liked the movie, and to say the film had greatly improved on its primary source was a massive understatement.

"They made sequels? But it died in the end."

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water." Hugo quoted, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively with a big grin on his face. "There are four films in total, and though it is harsh of me to say Lily is right. Only the first two are really worth watching."

"What's Jaws?" Alexei wanted to know, not happy to be left out of the conversation.

Hugo's answer was matter of fact. "A giant, twenty-five foot great white shark with a taste for eating people. Then the other sharks were also called Jaws too, and were about as big."

Alexei was sure they couldn't be that big and said so.

"While the exact measurements of the largest great white shark to ever be recorded as fact is widely debated, it doesn't help that they're largely made of water and shrink over time, or I think I read that somewhere once. Anyway, there are recorded instances of great whites measuring in the twenty feet zone, so it would be theoretically possible, though thankfully not likely. You're actually more likely to be killed by a hippo, or mosquitos. Definitely mosquitos, they're a serious killer given all the diseases they can carry. And humans kill way, way more sharks than sharks kill people."

"You mean Muggles have killed way more sharks." Alexei corrected.

"Well I would imagine we wizards kill more than they kill us too." Hugo pointed out before starting to rhyme off various potions that required some part of a shark.

"None of which I use." Lily added, just so they were clear. She always found a way around using that particular ingredient or any other that came from a creature that Muggles were pretty much hunting into extinction. Just one way she liked to help Mother Nature out, especially seeing as men were so often screwing with both of them.

Nodding in agreement, they were very environmentally conscious in their lab, Snape changed the subject to ask if the Die Hard sequels were better than the 'Jaws' ones, since Lily had mentioned that the movie they'd just seen was part of a franchise too.

"Definitely better, though you don't come back later to take McClaine on again." Laughing at the dark look he shot in her direction Lily just grinned at him, her smile getting that much bigger when she caught a hint of a smile on his lips for just a moment.

This was a good date.

)

Once they'd finished with their ice cream it was time to call it a night, Hugo insisting that he absolutely had to walk Alexei to the man's door since this was technically their first date ever. It would set a bad precedent, and make him look bad if he failed to do such an elementary part of dating etiquette. His Aunt Fleur would surely hunt him down and give him a very French tongue lashing if she were to catch wind that her nephew had behaved so badly towards a date.

Naturally Alexei pointed out that the woman would be more upset to hear they were dating than any misstep in manners was likely to do, but Hugo waved that off and wouldn't be swayed. Which was how they all ended up on the street outside Alexei's building, Lily and Snape waiting there while Hugo followed the bad tempered Slytherin up the three flights of stairs to the other man's floor. And from there it was a short walk down the hallway, Alexei pointedly ignoring his Gryffindor shadow right up until they arrived at his door, when he turned with one hand on the doorknob to give Hugo a look that made it clear he was to get the heck out of there now.

"Thank you for a lovely evening."

Alexei opening his mouth to no doubt say something unnecessarily harsh, Hugo simply opted to take advantage of that open mouth and leaning in he pressed their lips together, his hands holding Alexei's head in place as he took complete and total advantage of Alexei's shock.

No, all Alexei was capable of was making little sounds in the back of his throat as Hugo snogged him good and proper before turning him loose with a very pleased expression on his face.

"I'll look forward to hearing about your plans for our next date."

So saying Hugo all but skipped down the hallway and stairs, smiling all the more once he was outside when he caught sight of Lily and Severus sitting side by side on a short wall, the two quietly talking to each other and looking every inch the couple for once. Of course if he were to point that out it would completely ruin the moment, so instead Hugo simply walked over and took a seat on the other side of his friend, staying quiet until Lily spoke to him.

"He didn't follow through on his threat to jinx your arse if you followed him all the way to his door, I see."

"Nope. And I snogged him good and proper too. Then I got out of there before he did worse than just jinx me."

Both Gryffindors were surprised by the sound of Snape laughter at that, though they were in perfect agreement when he stated that they should probably get going seeing as it was only a matter of time before Alexei recovered himself enough to come down with the intention of killing Hugo very dead.

"That would probably be a good idea, yes."

Getting to their feet Lily grabbed one arm and Snape the other, the two apparating them all out of there just they heard a door slamming open, none of them doubting for a moment that had they remained there a second longer they would have had one thoroughly pissed off Slytherin on their hands.

Arriving on their land Lily took a look around and suggested that they put up some more shielding around the house for the night. They had standard spells that went into effect at night, Lily was the daughter of the Head Auror after all and he had plenty of enemies, but they generally didn't put up anything fancy around the place unless they'd been given a heads up to or Lily was doing a particularly dangerous experiment.

Each concentrating on a different type of shield, there were three extra ones in place before they turned around to head into the house, Snape commenting that he was pretty sure that Alexei had too much class to attempt to attack them while they were sleeping. And while they agreed that that made sense in principle, they also figured better safe than sorry. Alexei wasn't always logical, particularly when he was in a temper.

"Which is a lot of the time around me."

Moving around Snape to walk between them Lily threw an arm around Hugo's waist, giving him a comforting squeeze. "Awww, secretly he adores you, Baby. It's just hidden way down deep by those Dolohov genes."

An oddly elegant snort was Snape's opinion on that.

"What? You Slytherins are crap at showing your softer sides. It's practically a proven fact."

Snape opened his mouth, the look on his face making it clear that he intended to say something very offensive and derogatory about Gryffindors-but then he closed it again. He didn't say anything, simply shaking his head as they stepped onto the porch, moving slightly ahead of them to unlock the door and then hold it open for them.

"How very gentlemanly." Lily teased him as she stepped through the doorway.

"Hugo wasn't the only one raised with manners."

Turning back to look at him Lily gave him a saucy wink before continuing to sashay further into the hallway.

For the sake of all involved Hugo opted not to comment on the fact that his friend's eyes had lowered and focused in on Lily's shaking arse with a great deal of male appreciation in his eyes, but he did have to bite down hard on his lower lip so as not to smile or say something he'd regret later.

"So, Mr. Snape, are you going to continue your gentlemanly behaviour and walk me to my door?"

"Since our rooms aren't that far apart from each other it's no inconvenience for me to do so. So yes, Miss. Potter, I'll see you to your door. And Hugo to his."

An amused smirk on her face Lily didn't argue about that last part, and so the three of them headed up the stairs with Lily only insisting that Hugo be seen to his door first since he was the youngest and it was past his bedtime.

Getting what she was probably planning Hugo agreed that that was only fair, adding on a long, drawn out yawn that sounded fake even to his ears, but which had the other two smiling, however reluctantly in Severus's case, which was the main thing. And besides, technically speaking they reached Lily's door before his, so if Severus really wasn't happy with the idea of being left alone with Lily he could have pointed that out and insisted on dropping her off first. Nope, Severus was just fine with walking Lily to her door by himself.

Arriving at his door Hugo gave them a quick group hug and then quickly headed up his stairs, nearly missing a step but just catching himself in time. The rest was up to Severus, he thought with a grin as he straightened back up, continuing on his way.

)

Both of them stared at the closed door as they listened to the continued sound of Hugo walking up his stairs, Lily and Snape reassured by the fact that not only was he not telling them that he'd broken or sprained something, but that he sounded like he was taking the steps far more slowly this time. The further he went up the longer he'd have to fall down if he fell and didn't catch himself again. Of course the curly haired menace they knew and loved was very experienced at catching himself, but still…Hugo was really good at aging them prematurely. He was really lucky he was impossible not to love.

"You should use your charms to convince whoever is in charge of his work that Hugo should take the next week off and work from here. Where we can keep Alexei from maiming him."

"Are you admitting I have charms, Sev?"

"I'm admitting that the majority of civilization is probably blind to your many, many faults."

Laughing rather than take offense, Lily slid her arm through his. "Well I'll take that as a compliment anyway. And yeah, I can easily arrange for Hugo to work from here so no worries there. I'll go in tomorrow and pick up whatever he needs, his boss loves Hugo so much there's very little he wouldn't do for him."

"I would imagine the fact that Hugo does the work of ten men endears him to the man."

"That helps too."

Smiling at each other for several heartbeats, they both flushed a little when they realized what they'd been doing, Snape clearing his throat as he stated that if she wanted him to walk her to her door too she better get moving.

"Lead the way."

Rolling his eyes for form, Snape turned them and started walking towards her door, shortening his stride to draw it out a little. If she commented he'd just make a crack about her lack of height, which would distract her like a charm. But she didn't comment, the little firecracker not saying anything at all for once which was a nice change of pace. This was just a nice change of pace, really.

And reaching her door…Snape had no idea what to say or do.

Opening her door and switching on the light so that they were both much more visible to the other, Lily stood in the doorway, watching him as he watched her. "So…I guess in your day the best a girl could hope for was a kiss on the hand after a date, huh?"

Staring down at her, seeing the dare in her eyes, Snape knew he had two choices really, whether to fight or flee. And he was so damn tired of fleeing.

But he was still just taking small steps, he wasn't rushing into anything, so instead Snape simply lowered his head slightly and brushed his lips over one of her cheeks, close enough to hear her harsh intake in breath before he straightened up again.

"Good night."

"Good night."

)

The next day Lily did indeed go to Hugo's office to get his work stuff for him, having left Hugo behind in their Slytherin's care despite her cousin's protests that he could come and get his stuff at the very least. But they'd been right to insist he stay at home, Lily thought when she caught sight of Alexei waiting not at all patiently in the front lobby of Hugo's work building, the security guy watching the Slytherin with a mixture of fear and false bravado that no one with any instincts for that sort of thing would buy.

Of course as soon as he saw her he was started stomping over in her direction, Lily giving the security guy minor points for getting to his feet, his face suggesting that he was trying to gather enough courage to come over and help her out.

To say he looked relieved when she waved him off would be a massive bravado that no one with any instincts for that sort of thing would buy.

and

"Where is he?!"

"At home. Go out partying or something after we dropped you off last night? You look like you haven't slept."

Glaring at her Alexei was speaking through clenched teeth as he demanded that she let him speak to Hugo. They'd go back to the house together. Now.

"And if I say no, seeing as I am awfully fond of my cousin?" Just to piss him off Lily fluttered her eyelashes for added affect.

Getting up in her face Alexei didn't beat around the bush. "I would think twice before making me any angrier than I already am, Potter."

"Hey, I'm a redhead. Who appreciates a bad temper more?"

"I hate you."

"No, but I get that you wish you did."


	33. Sweet Little Moments

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Sweet Little Moments

Working in perfect tandem, a well-oiled machine when it came to this particular aspect of their lab work, Lily carefully inserted the stopper and then handed the finished product to Snape, who very neatly and perfectly placed the bottle into the box that was already half full of this particular product. Normally such care wouldn't be needed but these particular bottles were expensive and Domi had made it quite clear that she'd do very nasty things if any were broken before they were sold to her customers. The fact that both Snape and Lily had told the blonde that she shouldn't have picked the delicate pains in their arses in the first place, especially since customers were going to be right pissed if they ended up not getting their money's worth because the bottle broke on them, had been brushed off as unimportant and short sighted. Domi was charging these women through the nose for this hand cream and the admittedly beautifully designed bottles were part of that price.

So given that they both agreed Snape had the steadier hands Lily was letting him do most of the bottle handling, especially since she had more important things on her mind like what they were going to do about Hugo. It had been two days since Alexei had confronted her at Hugo's workplace and while they'd kept her cousin home for his own safety Hugo really did need to go back to work eventually. Plus Alexei had sent at least five letters that they knew about demanding that Hugo come and see him and Lily knew in her gut that it was only a matter of time before that likely very ill-fated meeting occurred.

A yank on the ends of her hair drew Lily's attention over to Snape.

"We have work to do."

"Yeah and I have Hugo to worry about!" Waving the bottle she was currently holding around, Lily just scowled harder at the Slytherin when he nipped said bottle out of her hand and grabbed a stopper with his other to finish the process. "How can you not be worried about him? What are we supposed to do? Alexei's made it clear that he doesn't want us around when he and Hugo talk and Hugo's forbidden us from confronting him on our own and…and what are we supposed to do?!"

"Wasn't it you who said Hugo could handle Alexei in a duel if need be?"

"That's not the point! Hugo cares about him too much to really defend himself and Dolohov usually would have calmed down by now but he hasn't! This is unprecedented territory!"

"You need to stop babying him so much."

"Babying him? Of course I baby him. I call him Baby for a reason! Hell, you all but said he was ours to look after which makes us his parents and…and…what kind of father would you be if you just handed our baby over to someone like Alexei Dolohov, huh?" Lily glared up at him, punctuating her point with several jabs of her finger to his chest.

"I could never have a child like Hugo. It would be biological impossible."

"Okay, that's sorta true, but in this case Hugo's related to me so technically it's possible for us to have a kid just like him. Though highly unlikely. But still…BAD DADDY!"

Opening and closing his mouth, it was obvious that Snape had no idea what to say to that accusation.

"Who's a bad daddy?"

"Sev is a bad daddy for you, our hypothetical baby. Mummy is sorry she didn't find you a better Daddy. He was just too hot to resist." Lily hurried over to dramatically give Hugo a big hug before wrapping an arm around his waist as she turned him so that they were both looking in the offending Slytherin's direction. "Apologize to our Baby for not being a better Daddy."

"I will most certainly not!"

"Yeah, he doesn't need to. He's a great dad even if technically he isn't mine." So saying Hugo slid out of Lily's grasp and walked over to give his friend a hug since Snape looked like he could use one. "So am I interrupting anything important, or can I have a few minutes of your time."

"Of course we have time for you. Parents should always have time for their children, even fake ones."

Snape rolled his eyes but didn't argue either.

"Okay. Then I came here to tell you that I sent Alexei a letter saying that I'd stop by his place tonight to see him. I thought about sneaking out but then I thought you guys might find out I was gone and freak thinking he'd snuck in somehow and kidnapped me. You guys aren't allowed to come either, though I appreciate the fact that I know you would both step in front of an Unforgivable Curse for me. Because you love me as much as I love you guys."

"Awwww, our baby's growing up on us, Sev!"

Muttering that she was going to be the death of him, which even Lily was willing to admit was actually a possibility, Snape shook his head at her and then gave Hugo a manly pat on the back in support of the plan.

Drawing them into a group hug Lily wasn't nearly as sure as the men in her life were that everything would work out, but she did know when she was outnumbered.

She'd just make them both very, very sorry if they turned out to be wrong.

)

Hugo was reasonable sure that Alexei didn't intend to horribly maim or kill him. While he was willing to allow that Alexei had a bad enough temper that he could potentially do either in a fit of rage, the Slytherin's temper could be Fiendfyre hot, but Alexei generally didn't stay that mad for long. He was too intelligent once the red haze started to dim a little and therefore Alexei would have remembered by this point that Hugo was the most loved child of the Golden Trio and ergo the Slytherin would pretty much get run out of not just London, but Europe itself if Hugo's own family didn't get him first. So yes, Hugo was sure that whatever Alexei wanted, the meeting would at least start off somewhat civil.

Pointing that out to Snape and Lily did reassure them a little, but both insisted that once again they would wait outside the apartment for him, just in case. He had simply to sound the alarm and they'd come a running.

So with his two bodyguards waiting for him outside Hugo headed back into Alexei's building and retracing his steps from his last visit managed to get there without injuring himself, though he did take the steps a little too fast at one point which would have been very bad if he hadn't been holding onto the bannister at the time.

Knocking on Alexei's door Hugo didn't have long to wait before the sounds of locks being undone reached his ears, and then the door opened and his favorite Slytherin stood there in the doorway, scowling at him as per usual.

"Hello, Alexei. I brought you cookies." He was a Weasley after all. Food bribes were always a good idea as far as they were concerned.

Alexei stared at the plate full of cookies in Hugo's hand and then just shook his head in a way that suggested he thought the Gryffindor was beyond all help. But he also stepped to the side and motioned for Hugo to come into his flat, which was an offer Hugo had been waiting for forever and was happy to take.

The flat was sparsely decorated and had little of Alexei's mark on it, but it was the Slytherin's home so Hugo was just glad to be allowed in as he set the cookies on a table before turning to face Alexei. "Lily and Severus insisted on waiting outside, and I should probably tell you in all fairness that they both put multiple spells on my clothes to repel pretty much every curse and jinx they knew a counter measure to. Lily put some really vivid images in Severus head about the damage you're suspected of doing to other people."

Smirking over that, Alexei wasn't the least bit worried and it showed. Instead he simply moved in close so that there was no space between them, grabbed the front of Hugo's jacket, and using his strong grip yanked the Gryffindor down enough that he could lay a kiss on Hugo's more than a little startled lips.

Not that Hugo was at all unhappy with this strange twist of events, to say he was quite happy to be good and snogged by the Slytherin would be somewhat of an understatement. When he'd done the same to Alexei the other man had frozen, but much more quick on the uptake Hugo simply relaxed and let Alexei have as much of his mouth as he wished to taste.

"Dammit." Were the first words out of Alexei's mouth when the snogging ended. "I was hoping the strain of having to be around you for hours had just fucked with my head the last time."

"Uhm…maybe you should try again? Just in case?" Hugo tried not to look too hopeful.

"Shut up, Weasley. Now I have to keep you around for a while until you annoy me so much that the frustration outweighs the benefits of keeping you in my bed. Fuck…do you know how long it's been since I've had a kiss like that?"

Actually he was rather hoping that Alexei had never felt that kind of connection with anyone before, but wisely Hugo just shook his head in the negative and hoped that was the right answer.

Making a dismissive sound, as well as obviously being angry at the world in general to find himself all hot and bothered over Hugo Weasley of all people, Alexei pointed a threatening finger in Hugo's direction and ordered the other man to send a message to Lily and Snape informing them that he wouldn't be home that night.

"The sooner I get you out of my system the sooner I can move on and pretend this never bloody well happened."

Playing along, he of course had absolutely no intention of letting Alexei work him out of his system now that he'd apparently gain entry, Hugo nodded his head and then using his patronus sent a message down to his friends, speaking in French since that's the deal he'd made with Lily before coming up. A message in English meant Alexei had forced him to send it, French meant no duress and everything was good. Plus he didn't want Alexei to know what he was telling his cousin so that was an added benefit.

That done Hugo returned his wand to his pocket and then beamed at Alexei, the Slytherin pointing the way further into his lair.

Hugo was happy to follow.

)

Sitting side by side with her favorite Slytherin on the low wall again, Lily was just about to check her watch to see how much time had passed when her cousin's patronus suddenly appeared in front of her, Hugo's voice incredibly cheerful as he explained in perfect French that the kiss he'd given Alexei's earlier had apparently wet the man's appetite for more and as a result Hugo was going to be spending the night at the Slytherin's in order to begin his new plan of using sex to get his hooks so far into Alexei that the other man would be willing to put up with all the flaws he had in Alexei's eyes. That it was a plan fraught with peril Hugo recognized in the last part of his explanation, but better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all and all that jazz.

Shaking her head as Hugo's patronus bided them both good night and then dissipated, Lily had to laugh even as she wondered just how she was going to explain all this to Sev.

"Admittedly my French is very, very rusty, and I only caught half of that…but did he say that he was staying with Alexei tonight?"

Lily wasn't sure whether she was happy or sad that he had apparently grasped enough of Hugo's words that she couldn't shock him with the information in a really amusing way. Or course the fact that he understood some French was also kinda sexy since now she was imagining him talking to her sexily in the foreign language and that distracted her enough that the Slytherin in question had to tug on her hair a couple times and repeat the question before she could focus on answering him.

"Yeah. Apparently Alexei has decided that he can tolerate Hugo long enough for them to roll around naked a few times so Baby's taking him up on the offer."

"That will not end well."

"Possibly." Sliding off her seat Lily turned so that she was facing Snape, who had also gotten to his feet. "The more time he spends around Hugo the more Hugo will grow in him, just like he did on you. And if it doesn't work…well then at least Hugo will have the shagging to remember Alexei by. And hell, there are plenty of relationships out there that started with just the physical and became something more."

The fact that Snape looked far from convinced only reassured Lily that she'd been right to believe that trying to seduce the Slytherin into wanting to spend more time with her and see her as a woman would have backfired horribly. Snape was very, very old school about this sort of thing and so instead of arguing she opted to simply listen as the man in question started mumbling under his breath about how bad an idea this actually was.

Understanding his worries perfectly Lily slipped her arm through his as she leaned against him. "Alexei is unquestionably not the gentleman you are, but he's not a complete cad either."

"Most people wouldn't call me a gentleman." Snape observed dryly.

"True, but most people don't know you like I know you."

"Oh?"

Making a sound of confirmation Lily figured they might as well get going and started herding Snape in the direction of a really great café she knew about while she distracted him with the answer to his question.

"Sev, you don't like me half the time but you always open doors for me and help me with stuff when I'm carrying too much. Plus you do chores around the house without asking, never leave your stuff out where it shouldn't be, and always thank me for meals even if you often do it really grudgingly. Plus I haven't blown myself up in like forever because you're always hovering to make sure that doesn't happen. You take care of me and even when I let you know I was interested in you you didn't try to just use me for sex even though it's been decades since you got any. You're a gentleman, Severus Snape, and I'll punch out anyone who says otherwise."

Lily wasn't remotely surprised when he glared at her while stating that she hadn't needed to add that part about sex.

"Of course I had to add it, it's part of what we've been talking about after all."

Not buying her innocent eyes for a moment, no one who knew her would, Snape just shook his head and then asked where they were going, sighing when she told him even though the promise of hot chocolate and really delicious brownies was enough that he decided not to complain about the idea.

Neither said anything else until they entered the jammed pack café, Snape pointing out that there had to be another place close by that wouldn't be as crowded. But Lily brushed that off, assuring him that it would all be worth the wait. This place was always this packed for a reason, and given the delicious scents twining around their senses like overly affectionate cats Snape decided to give in. If someone half Weasley could have the patience to wait then he sure as hell could too. So they got in line, the two both noticing right away the woman with two children in the line ahead of them, the three looking out of place given the upbeat feel of the cafe. It was obvious from their well worn clothes and slightly underfed look that they were poor, the children looking at the display case of various desserts and other treats with open longing but neither asked their mother for anything. And children never passed up a chance to beg for treats unless they had been well trained not to.

Having been in the children's shoes Snape's heart ached for them though he said nothing, biting back the offer to buy something for them because he knew the stubborn, prideful set to the mother's jaw when she caught him looking. His own mother had been the same, a Prince not the sort to take charity even when her husband had wasted most of their money and left her with hardly anything to feed them all with. Lily would never know what it was to be in this woman's or her children's shoes, people would give her things for free simply because of who her father was if she needed them. And he was glad of that, glad she had and would never know this particular pain.

He was hardly listening as Lily gave their orders, trusting her with the task as he followed her down the line while watching the family in front buy two small hot chocolates, nothing for the mother. And then it was their turn and Snape couldn't help but raises his eyebrows a little as he took in the large white bag that was set beside the mugs and plates holding their brownies on a tray. What else had she gotten?

Picking up the tray for her, not that they could really go anywhere given how packed the place was at the moment, Snape about jumped out of his skin when Lily suddenly rounded on him with no warning, fire in her eyes as she gave him a look that promised he was going to wish he'd never been born.

And since she often made him wish that without even putting real effort into it Snape felt a very cold, foreboding shiver run down his spine as he braced for whatever fireworks were about to go off simply because he had the bad taste to hang around with a Potter these days.


End file.
